Cabinet annuls Morsi pardons

The Cabinet approved interim President Adly Mansour’s proposal to annul some of the pardons issued by his predecessor, former President Mohamed Morsi, said a statement posted on the Cabinet’s official Facebook page Thursday.

Investigations showed that some of the people Morsi pardoned were implicated in crimes that harmed national security and Egyptian citizens, the statement claimed, purporting that after their release the suspects continued engaging in the same criminal behavior.

The pardons must be annulled to protect national security, the statement asserted.

In July 2012, Morsi pardoned 572 prisoners on the occasion of Ramadan, including 25 former jihadists and members of the Jama’a al-Islamiya — a hardline Islamist group that broke off from the Muslim Brotherhood and then engaged in a violent insurgency, before its incarcerated leadership, speaking from prison, renounced violent acts.

When he issued the pardons, Morsi said that these prisoners had no charges proven against them.

The following October, Morsi issued an eight-article decree giving blanket pardons for all felony and misdemeanor convictions or attempted crimes committed to support the revolution and the fulfillment of its goals during the period from January 25, 2011 to June 30, 2012, except in cases of murder.

An investigation conducted by Mada Masr last February showed that while Morsi did issue pardons for some high-profile militants implicated in terrorism cases, in fact most of the pardons of jihadis and Islamists took place during the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces from February to October, 2011.

Mada Masr’s investigation showed that Morsi released 27 Islamists during his rule, while the military council released over 800.

Last November, Mansour gave former Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi the power to review all pardons issued by Morsi.