Egypt's El Sisi pardons Patrick Zaki after activist receives three-year jail sentence

Patrick Zaki arrives at a courthouse in Egypt's northern Nile delta city of Mansoura. AFP

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Wednesday pardoned rights activist Patrick Zaki, who had been sentenced to three years in prison for disseminating false information.

The President's pardon, announced in a statement from his office, came in response to an appeal by the trustees of the national dialogue – an inclusive forum mandated to make recommendation on the nation's future – for Mr Zaki's release.

The decision to pardon Mr Zaki followed international reactions to his sentencing from Italy's prime minister and the US state department.

Mr Zaki, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), was sentenced on Tuesday by a state security court in his hometown of Mansoura for allegedly spreading false news over an article he wrote about the plight of Egypt's Christians.

It is not clear when Mr Zaki will be released from prison. But another rights activist pardoned by the president on Wednesday - Mohammed El Baqer - appeared in photos posted online reunited with his wife.

Mr El Baqer represented detained activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, a British-Egyptian national. He was arrested in 2019 while attending his client's interrogation.

Mr Zaki was arrested during a visit to his native Egypt in February 2020, when he was a graduate student at Italy's University of Bologna. He was charged with disseminating false information through an article he wrote about the plight of Egypt's Christians.

He served 22 months in pretrial detention before being released pending the completion of his trial at an emergency state security court in Mansoura, his hometown.

The activist was detained immediately after the verdict was handed down on Tuesday, security officials said.

His time served in pretrial detention would have been discounted from the sentence, but that is now moot.

Mr Zaki's sentence cannot be appealed in a higher court, which meant his only hope for release was a presidential pardon.