From Foreign Policy (via DG's Mideast Media Sampler):
On Saturday, SCAF chief Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi pardoned Nabil, along with 1,959 other prisoners subjected to military trials. Adel al-Mursi, the head of the military prosecution, said that the decision to pardon the detainees was taken to commemorate the revolution's anniversary. He was released on Jan. 24, flashing the "V" for victory signs to photographers as he marched out of prison.This is very good news, no question. But here's another headline that puts the prisoner release in a broader context:
Egypt pardons nearly 2,000 prisoners; Islamists take three quarters of parliamentSanad, a secularist, an atheist, an advocate for gender and affectional preference equality and a supporter of Israel, has consistently called for the Egyptian army to get out of the way and let the voice of the people be heard. And yet, those whom the people have now given political power ruthlessly oppose all of those stands and the people who take them. The only force standing in the way of Egypt's Islamists today is the army. How does he square that circle?
