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Egypt pardons jailed activists including two prominent rights defenders, official media say

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's president has pardoned a group of prisoners who include two prominent rights activists, one of whom has ties to Italy and was sentenced this week, the country’s state-run news agency reported Wednesday.

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's president has pardoned a group of prisoners who include two prominent rights activists, one of whom has ties to Italy and was sentenced this week, the country’s state-run news agency reported Wednesday.

Among those pardoned by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi was rights activist Patrick George Zaki, who was a post-graduate student in Italy and who was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday over an opinion article he wrote in 2019, the MENA news agency said.

Also pardoned was Mohammed el-Baker, a rights lawyer, who was arrested in Sep. 2019 and sentenced to four years in prison late in 2021 over charges of disseminating false news, misuse of social media and joining a terrorist group, the agency reported.

The Associated Press