Egyptian former MP Ziyad El-Eleimy has been granted a presidential pardon on Monday and he returned back to his family, especially his mother.
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| Ziyad El-Eleimy in the middle wearing a suit with his mother Ikram Youssef on the left and Medhat Zahid, the leading member of the Social Democratic Party on the right outside the prison on Monday |
It was the good news of the day without a doubt.
The news was announced early Monday, and he was released from prison Monday afternoon to be received with heartful hugs from his mother, family and friends.
The photos were amazing and hopeful. I feel very happy for his mother Mrs Ikram Youssef who has been demanding her son’s release for three years tirelessly.
On Monday evening, Ziyad El-Eleimy released that video statement which can be an indication that the former MP won’t give stop defending the freedom of expression.
“I am grateful for all the people who defended our right to freedom of expression and political rights with feared being imprisoned, because of your efforts I am here among you and my family. Our main role now is to remind our people that there are still many people in prison because they expressed their views, and their main crime is expressing an opposite view.” He said adding that he will continue defending the freedom of expression and freedom of political detainees.
He also gave his first statement to Al-Jazeera Mubshar saying that he wished that political detainees be closed indefinitely soon.
El-Eleimy has been outspoken since he was a member of the Revolution Youth Coalition in 2011.
Away from politics, Ziyad El-Eleimy used to share those funny and sweet stories of himself and his son, little Nadeem. After his arrest in June 2019, all I think about was Nadeem.
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| El-Eleimy hugging a child, I do not know if she is his daughter or not |
Aside from El-Eleimy, the Egyptian President also pardoned Amr Ragab Qotb Mohamed Aziz Al-Gohary according to the pardon decree issued in Egypt’s official gazette on Monday.
I could not find more information on all these men, but they are also convicted in security-related cases according to the information available in the official.
The pardon of Ziyad El-Eleimy comes on the top of the Presidential Pardon committee after its re-activation in April.
El-Eleimy already received a final five-year prison sentence in November by the emergency state security misdemeanour court for spreading false news on social media, among other charges, in the case dubbed by the media as the “Hope Cell” plot.
Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi pardoned political activist and Karama Party member Hossam Mones and journalist Hisham Fouad who were convicted in the same case, in April and July respectively.
I do not know if their names are dropped from the terrorism list or not according to that pardon or not.
There are still 10 prisoners from the same case.
More than 1000 pretrial detainees have been released and 12 prisoners have received presidential pardons since President El-Sisi reactivated the Presidential Pardon Committee and called for a national dialogue with the opposition and other political forces
El-Eleimy has been considered a high-profile case.
He is a 25 January revolution veteran activist who became a politician and was among the promising young political faces. He represented the Egyptian Social Democratic Party as an MP in the 2012 Parliament.
I hope that the next pardon will include Alaa Abdel Fattah. In fact, they are many names in my mind.
FYI, Alaa’s younger sister Sanaa started a sit-in in front of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office demanding his release as a British citizen. Alaa has been on a hunger strike for more than 200 days.
He drinks fluids up till now, but he lost a lot of weight according to his family.
Alaa’s family promised that they will leave Egypt if he is released. It is a sad thing knowing how much Alaa and his family love this country.
I hope more detainees and political prisoners to be released and pardoned soon inshallah.
I hope to see Ziyad El-Eleimy as an MP again in Egypt inshallah.
Updated: It turned out that El-Eleimy can't run for elections or have true and official political activity because he was not acquitted but rather pardoned and is still on the terrorism list.
I do not think you know him, but Omar Al Shenety, a fellow AUCian and a renowned business consultant, is also imprisoned in the same case. He is not into politics or famous as Alaa, Ziyad and other political activists. Nobody talks about him or even know him. His companies closed down, his assets were confiscated. His business was a source of hard currency for Egypt. Most of his company consultancy operations were in the gulf. He shared the same hope and dream with Ziyad, Hossam Moenes and Hesham Fouad, who were also recently pardoned.
ReplyDeleteAlaa's case is even worse. He will not be released without proper intervention from British government....and there is not one there yet. I hope he has enough strength. My prayers with his family.
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