Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi pardoned 100 prisoners, including three Al Jazeera journalists on Wednesday, security sources said.
Canadian Mohamed Fahmy, Egyptian Baher Mohamed and Australian Peter Greste were sentenced to three years in prison in a retrial in August for operating without a press license and broadcasting material harmful to Egypt. Mr. Greste had already been deported in February.
Egypt's state news agency confirmed the pardons, saying the pardoned prisoners included those who violated a law against public protest as well as some who were sick.
"This comes in the framework of Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi's initiative to release a number of youth which he launched... in December," it said, quoting presidential sources.
Among the released were 16 women, including Yara Sallam, the state news agency said. Ms. Sallam was arrested in 2014 along with other activists accused of violating the protest law.
