Emirati authorities in Dubai pardoned 57 Egyptian detainees on the occasion of Ramadan, Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Amr Roshdy said in a statement.
Roshdy said that the detainees were released after Egypt's Consul General to Dubai Mohab Nasr contacted the authorities there to ask for the pardons.
The Foreign Ministry says it is making significant efforts to release Egyptian prisoners in Gulf countries.
On Thursday, Ambassador Ali al-Ashairy, Egypt's Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, formed a consulate committee to inspect the conditions of prisoners in some Saudi prisons.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the committee met with 70 prisoners as well as prison management to review the legal status of the Egyptian detainees, especially those imprisoned pending investigation, those who are still on trial, and those who have served their punishment and are waiting for the completion of paperwork to be deported.
The majority of detainees are charged with theft, breach of trust and writing bad checks. There is also an Egyptian accused of claiming to be “Al-Mahdi al-Montazar” in the Grand Mosque in Mecca who is being treated at a psychiatric hospital in Taef.
