Presidential sources said the committee working on the presidential pardons of detained youth, which was formed by the presidency four months ago, is about to declare the second list to be submitted to presidency within few days seeking pardon.
Headed by by Osama al-Ghazaly Harb, the committee is continuing its work on collecting the names of eligible detainees.
The second list will include names gathered within the Al-Masry Al-Youm initiative.
According to the sources, even before the committee was formed, the presidency was keen on pardoning certain youth who were detained over breaking the protest law.
There were 600 persons already pardoned before the committee was formed. Another list that included 82 persons, titled ‘First List of Pardonned Youth’, was then drafted and signed by the committee.
The delay behind issuing the second list, according to the sources, was due to further review of the data belonging to those on the list.
The sources added that the presidency is keen on finalizing all the pardon lists; it is currently working on lists submitted to the committee from several sources like Al-Masry Al-Youm, NGOs and trade unions.
The committee then verifies the systems used for gathering the names; checks each individual case thoroughly before deciding on an outcome.
The decision is based standards for the lists which will be issued later, according to the souces. The standards prioritize students, women and girls; they include health reasons, non-participation in violent protest and good conduct during incarceration.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
