Egyptian president pardons military prisoners

Egyptian President Dr. Mohammed Morsi issued a decision Saturday to pardon a number of military prisoners, marking the advent of Eid al fitr, or lesser bairam. The Egyptian Ministry of Interior released a statement today revealing that 581 prisoners in military jails will be pardoned as a result of the President's decision. The announcement came after the Ministry conducted a research on the files of the to-be-pardoned prisoners. An unnamed source inside the Ministry of Interior told Egyptian Middle East News Agency (MENA) that the 581 prisoners will be released on Sunday morning, the first day of Eid. Releasing militarily-trialed prisoners was one of the main demands of Egyptian revolutionary youth activists. It was also one of the pledges Morsy made prior to the run-off elections. A significant number of at least 12000 military prisoners were jailed for political reasons.