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Egypt: Sissi pardons Al-Jazeera journalists

EGYPTIAN President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pardoned Al-Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed yesterday.

The president also pardoned dozens of rights activists.

Mr Fahmy’s lawyer Khaled Abu Bakr confirmed the pardon but insisted that his client was always a “professional and innocent journalist.”

The two journalists were expected to be freed later in the day.

Mr Fahmy and Mr Mohamed were both jailed for three years after a retrial last month for airing what an Egyptian court described as “false news” and biased coverage.

Dozens of other activists, including prominent feminist campaigner Yara Sallam and political activist Sanaa Seif, were also among those pardoned as a gesture during Eid celebrations.

The state-run Mena news agency said a third person in the Al-Jazeera case — which included multiple defendants including Australian journalist Peter Greste — had also been pardoned, but did not say who it was.

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