Former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi has said that the Civil Democratic Movement will not dialogue with the government unless the authorities release political prisoners.

The movement called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to release 1,074 political prisoners, and 950 of them have already been released. “The movement announced a set of necessary guarantees for the success of the dialogue, including the release of prisoners of conscience,” said one of the movement’s leading members, Samir Alish, in October. “The movement will not back down from these demands, and if the authorities do not positively respond to them, it will not participate in the dialogue.” He added that if large numbers of prisoners of conscience are released, the movement will undoubtedly participate actively and positively. Sabahi said that the movement seeks to have the country free of prisoners of conscience.