Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has pardoned a number of prisoners, including prominent Egyptian activist Ahmed Douma, state TV and lawyers have said.
Douma, 37, a leading figure in the pro-democracy revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011, was sentenced in 2019 to 15 years in prison for rioting and attacking security forces, commuting a <a href="https://news.ad-astra.icu/prominent-activist-douma-and-other-prisoners-granted-pardon-by-egypts-president-el-sisi.html” title=”Prominent activist Douma and other prisoners granted pardon by Egypt's President el-Sisi”>previous 25-year sentence handed down in 2015.
“President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi … has used his constitutional powers” to pardon several prisoners including Douma, said lawyer Tarek Elawady, a member of the presidential pardons committee.
Prominent rights lawyer Khaled Ali, meanwhile, said on social media on Saturday he was waiting outside Badr prison on Cairo’s outskirts for the activist’s release.
In delivering his verdict at the time, the judge said Douma was part of a crowd that broke into parliament and damaged part of it, describing them as doing the work of the “devil”.
Like several other prominent activists in Egypt, Douma has been jailed under Mubarak, the subsequent ruling military council, former president Mohamed Morsi and el-Sisi.
Original from www.aljazeera.com