54 Sinai tribespeople granted presidential pardon after military court ruling sparks appeals

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree on Tuesday granting official pardons to 54 people from Sinai who had received judicial sentences, according to the presidential spokesperson. The statement did not specify the sentences that would be waived.

But according to two informed sources who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity, the pardons were issued to a group of individuals convicted in the wake of a 2023 sit-in to assert their right to return to lands in Sinai’s north east, which later escalated into clashes with security forces.

The pardons were granted following appeals made by parliamentarians, tribal leaders and elders from Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed in North Sinai Governorate, according to the statement.

The Ismailia Military Criminal Court issued the sentences last week to 62 individuals in total — 54 in custody and eight in absentia — with prison terms ranging from ten to seven to three years. 

The case dates back to October 2023, when dozens of individuals from the Sawarka and Romaylat tribes in Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed renewed their demand for the right to return to their lands. They were forcibly displaced from the area which became a military zone in 2015 during the state’s war on militant extremists in the area. 

The tribes staged a two-day sit-in in August, south of Sheikh Zuwayed. A sovereign body later promised to allow their return to the area starting early October 2023. Yet the date came and officials still had not established a mechanism for their return to their villages.

When individuals from the tribes demonstrated, military leaders rejected the tribes' demands and asked them to end their demonstrations. The situation escalated into clashes, with some young tribespeople blocking the International Road in Rafah. The protests culminated in confrontations with Armed Forces personnel, who fired live ammunition in the air to disperse the crowds and arrested several individuals, according to two sources who were present at the sit-in and spoke to Mada Masr at the time.

According to case documents which Mada Masr reviewed, they were convicted of causing deliberate damage, estimated at a value of LE10,500, to three Land Cruiser vehicles owned by the Egyptian Armed Forces. They were also charged with using force and violence against public officials — members of the Armed Forces tasked with securing the North Sinai sector, including one soldier who sustained a cut to his face as a result.

Over a dozen rights organizations challenged the sentences on December 23, noting the residents’ legitimate right to return to lands from which they were forcibly displaced, and dismissing the validity of convicting them in a military court.

The presidential spokesperson stated that the pardons were granted following appeals made by parliamentarians, tribal leaders and elders from Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed in the North Sinai. 

The presidential decree also noted that the pardons came in recognition of the historic role of Sinai residents in combating terrorism and considering the humanitarian circumstances of those convicted in various cases. 

One of the sources who spoke to Mada Masr, a relative of one of the pardoned individuals, said they learned of the presidential decree through tribal elders. The relative said the elders had been informed that a pardon was granted to the young men in the Right to Return case by the Secret Service Agency, a body affiliated with the Military Intelligence Authority.

A member of the defense team, speaking before the presidential decree was published on Tuesday, said that the security forces camp in Ismailia, where the 52 people convicted in the case were being held, had been instructed to prepare for their transfer to North Sinai ahead of their release.