Syrian authorities released 55 political prisoners on Saturday, according to the Human Rights Association in Syria.
The released prisoners include members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization who had spent up to 20 years in jail.
The London-based A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported that those released include five Palestinians, two Lebanese, one Iraqi, one Tunisian and 46 Syrians.
Syria banned the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982 after Hafiz Al-Asad, father of the incumbent president Bashar Al-Asad, cracked down on the group.
Bashar Al-Asad has released hundreds of political prisoners since he succeeded his father in 2000 but at the same time has cracked down on pro-reform and pro-democracy movements. He pardoned 112 political prisoners last December.
The recent release came as Syria is coming under mounting pressure from human rights organizations criticizing the Syrian authorities’ maltreatment and torture of detainees and prisoners in the country.