In a new memorandum to the Prosecutor General on Tuesday, the Committee to Defend Prisoners of Conscience called for the release of all prisoners of conscience.
A delegation of public figures, party leaders and lawyers from the committee met on Tuesday with First Assistant Prosecutor General at the office of Prosecutor General Mohamed Shawky. The group submitted a memorandum seeking to end the suffering of detainees held in connection with political cases, the committee said in a statement.
The Committee to Defend Prisoners of Conscience was launched last November by political parties, movements, more than 50 public figures and families of detainees. Operating under the slogan “Egypt Without Prisoners of Conscience,” the initiative seeks to unify civil and legal efforts to secure the release of those jailed in cases linked to freedom of expression and public activity.
In mid-January, the committee submitted a memorandum to the Prosecutor General urging the release of all prisoners of conscience whose pretrial detention has exceeded the legal maximum.
In its latest statement, the committee submitted a memorandum to free dozens of detainees in conscience cases, calling them a positive step. It urged authorities to release all prisoners of conscience to improve the climate for rights and freedoms and reinforce justice and the rule of law.
In the same context, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) stated that the Supreme State Security Prosecution issued decisions during April to release at least 92 people being held in pretrial detention pending cases in which they faced “terrorism” charges.
In a statement issued Monday, EIPR called on the Supreme State Security Prosecution to urgently and comprehensively implement the Prosecutor General’s directives to review the status of all detainees. This, the organization noted, requires issuing similar decisions for larger groups on a regular basis as a prelude to a complete settlement of the file of those detained in political cases.
EIPR also called on the Public Prosecution to activate Article 124 of the new Criminal Procedure Law, No. 174 of 2025, which caps pretrial detention at four months for misdemeanors, 12 months for felonies, and 18 months in cases where the death penalty or life imprisonment applies, and stipulates the release of everyone who has served the relevant duration. This would be in line with rulings by the Court of Cassation, which emphasized the necessity of applying the law most favorable to the defendant, even if the law has not yet entered into force.
The EIPR statement noted the decisions to release several pretrial detainees during April, including Nermin Hussein, who remained in custody for nearly six years, and the former spokesperson for the April 6 Youth Movement, Sherif El-Roubi, who was re-arrested months after his release in 2022 and spent four subsequent years in prison amid complaints of being denied healthcare.
The decisions also included Ahmed Orabi, one of the injured from the January 25 Revolution, after his pretrial detention exceeded the maximum limit, along with Sayed Ali Fahim, known as Sayed Mushagheb, who was released after years of detention before being re-arrested hours after his release pending a new case.
The list of those released also included several people detained for their solidarity with Palestine, including defendants in Case 2468 of 2023, as well as other instances involving the release of citizens imprisoned for expressing their opinions or posting content on social media.
The statement pointed out that the implementation of some release decisions was delayed for several days and that those released suffered from complex transfer procedures between detention centers before their final release.
EIPR considered that the common denominator among most of these cases is imprisonment for exercising a constitutional right to expression. The organization called for investigations into the violations suffered by detainees and emphasized the continued presence of even larger numbers of pretrial detainees who have exceeded legal limits or remain in custody without clear justification.
