Prominent Egyptian activist Ziad El-Elaimy to be released from jail

Prominent Egyptian activist, former MP and politician Ziad El-Elaimy received Monday a presidential pardon and is expected to be released from prison within hours amid intensifying international pressure ahead of UN climate change conference COP 27 due next month in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh resort in South Sinai.

Head of the presidential pardons committee MP Tarek El-Khouly tweeted that president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered the release of Elaimy, also a lawyer, in response to the calls of the political fronts and parties.

السيد الرئيس عبد الفتاح السيسي يُصدر القرار الجمهوري ٥١٠ لسنة ٢٠٢٢ بالعفو عن زياد العليمي وذلك استجابة لدعوات الأحزاب والقوى السياسية وتنسيقية شباب الأحزاب والسياسيين ولجنة العفو الرئاسي.. ويأتي ذلك القرار استكمالاً لدعوة الرئيس السيسي بتفعيل عمل لجنة العفو الرئاسي

— Tarek El Khouly (@khouly85) October 24, 2022

A key figure of the 25 January Revolution that removed long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Elaimy was arrested in June 2019 and added to the terror list the following year.

In November 2021, an emergency state security court sentenced Elaimy to five years in prison for "spreading false news" after spending two years in pre-trial detention.

Elaimy was also accused of joining the Muslim Brotherhood, legally designated a terrorist organisation since 2014.

Yet it is believed that Elaimy was jailed after he co-founded the "coalition of hope", an opposition alliance that sought to run in the parliamentary elections.

Several dozen pre-trial detainees have been freed recently after the committee started working, including high-profile labour activist Haitham Mohammadien.

Egypt's human rights record is regularly condemned, with local and international groups saying there are currently 60,000 political prisoners behind bars over terrorism-related charges.