Two of the journalists for the news broadcaster Al Jazeera English had been in prison pending an appeal of their convictions.
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The head of the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression celebrated journalist Mohamed Fahmy’s release from an Egyptian prison on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if he was included in the pardon. “AJ Staff is Free!”
Lawyer Khaled Abu Bakr confirmed the pardon and says his client is a “professional and innocent journalist”.
The two had been sentenced to three years in jail on charges of publishing false news supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, report Egyptian media.
Also named were the prominent activists Yara Sallam and Sanaa Seif, who were jailed in 2014 for taking part in an “illegal protest”.
Egypti’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned 100 prisoners as a gesture on the eve of Muslim holiday Eid.
At the time, Qatar, which owns Al-Jazeera, had been supportive of the Islamists.
Other prisoners will be released given their health condition or for humanitarian reasons, sources at the presidency said Wednesday, MENA reported.
“We’ve just had some late breaking news here that Mohammed Fahmy has been pardoned in Egypt”, the host explained, as the crowd applauded. Egyptian authorities deported Mr. Greste, an Australian, in February following public protests from the Canberra government over his imprisonment.
Fahmy was given a three-year sentence last month after his second trial – an outcome which shocked worldwide observers.
There was no immediate comment from Al-Jazeera.
The Al Jazeera network has welcomed the release of its journalists but has demanded that all the charges against them should be dropped.
Fahmy gave up his Egyptian nationality during the trial in hopes of being deported to Canada. “I will continue fighting for press freedom”, Fahmy said.
The journalists had been arrested in a security raid in a Cairo hotel room where they were operating in December 2013. Qatar is a strong backer of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
In January, Egypt’s Court of Cassation ordered a retrial after ruling that the original court had been “hasty in pronouncing its verdict”.
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A Canadian government spokesperson said that the country was pleased with the president’s pardon and would help to arrange the departure of Fahmy from Egypt.
