Patrick Zaki, the young Egyptian and student of the University of Bologna sentenced yesterday to three years, has received a presidential pardon. This was announced by the Egyptian authorities.
President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi « uses his constitutional powers and issues a presidential decree granting pardons to a group of people against whom judicial sentences have been handed down, including Patrick Zaki and Mohamed El-Baqer, in response to the appeal of the Council of Secretaries of National Dialogue and of the political forces». A member of the Egyptian Presidential Pardon Committee, Mohamad Abdelaziz, wrote on Facebook. Mohamed al-Baqer is the lawyer of Alaa Abdel Fattah, Egypt's most famous political prisoner.
" Tomorrow Patrick Zaki will be in Italy and I wish him a life of serenity and success from the bottom of my heart ," said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a video message, who also thanked Egyptian President Al Sisi. «Since our first meeting last November I have never stopped asking the question, I have always found attention and availability on your part. And I want to thank the intelligence and diplomats, both Italian and Egyptian, who in recent months have never stopped working to arrive at the desired solution".
A pardon that came after a long and constant negotiation between Rome and Cairo, the result of the joint commitment of the government and intelligence , which intensified with the Meloni government and eventually paid off.
“If yesterday was a catastrophic day, today is a day of happiness – commented Riccardo Noury, spokesman for Amnesty International Italy – It is important that Patrick becomes free again. We hope, if this provision does not contemplate it, that the travel ban will also be abolished . And this square that is filling up at the Pantheon, if it was worried an hour ago, is now a happy square".
As soon as the news arrived in the Senate Hall, work was interrupted for a long applause: «I want to express the joy of the entire Senate for this result. I want to thank all those who have spent these years for this result. I wanted to externalize it to the Assembly," said Pd senator Filippo Sensi. "Great satisfaction - says Senator Giulio Terzi of FdI - for the importance of such a decisive step".
Zaki had been convicted with an unappealable sentence for spreading false news, for an article written in 2019 on the Coptic minority. Of the 3 years he would still have had to serve 14 months. Yesterday he was taken back to prison: both the Italian and American governments had asked for a pardon.
(Unioneonline/D)
