Sep 29, 2015 According to security sources, Egyptian President Abdel Fatta al-Sisi recently issued a presidential pardoned to 100 prisoners, including Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy.
The pardon came before the president’s departure to the United States for the 70th session of the U.N. General Assembly.
Fahmy, who was sentenced to three years in prison along with two other Al Jazeera journalists for operating without a press license said:
“We’re going to travel the world, we’re going to celebrate, we’re going to party, and we’re very happy that President Sisi took this action and released us. I will continue fighting for press freedom. I have been working on a charter in the prison cell to introduce to the Egyptian journalism syndicate and to the presidency in Egypt to improve press freedoms for both, Egyptian journalists and foreign journalists working in Egypt, because I believe there’s so much that can be done in order to protect us from prosecution in Egypt”
Baher Mohamed, who was also convicted for operating without a press license and for broadcasting material harmful to Egypt, said:
“I am glad this whole nightmare is over, the whole nightmare is over, we can live like normal people, and go back home, and enjoy my life and that’s it. That’s all.”
Despite his release, Mohamed Fahmy pointed that there are others journalists in jail and he will not stop writing about it till they are all released.
“I know that there are other defendants who are still in prison related to this case. I have said it from day one – this case revolves around very foggy prosecution as well as Al Jazeera’s shortcomings and negligence which has contributed to our situation and to understand this case, it’s basically like a war of ideologies, it’s about objectivity in journalism, it’s about issues that should not be handled in a criminal court”
According to Egypt’s state news agency, the pardon also included prisoners who violated a 2013 law banning protests without a permit as well as some sick inmate.