Prominent Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El-Fattah has been released from prison along with several other prisoners following the announcement of presidential pardons on Monday in Egypt. Alaa spent most of the last 12 years in and out of detention due to his political activism. Alaa Abd El-Fattah reunited with his mother Laila Soueif, who had been on a hunger strike for months demanding her son’s freedom. Also celebrating Alaa’s release Monday at the family home was his sister, Sanaa Seif.

Sanaa Seif: “We wish for this moment to come for all the families of political detainees. I’m praying that this is the end of tragedies in our family and that Alaa is allowed to travel and to be with his son.”

We’ll have more on Alaa’s pardon and release later in the broadcast.

In related news, a human rights investigation has uncovered a mass grave in Egypt’s North Sinai, which researchers believe was used by the Egyptian military to bury the bodies of victims of extrajudicial killings.