CAIRO (AP) — A prominent Egyptian rights activist with ties to Italy walked free from jail Thursday, a rights defender said.

Patrick George Zaki, a post graduate student in Italy, was pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, along with five other people on Wednesday, according to the country’s Official Gazette.

The news of his release was announced by Hossam Bahgat, founder of Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who posted a picture of Zaki on his Facebook page Thursday afternoon.

Zaki was sentenced to three years in prison earlier this week over an opinion article he wrote in 2019, Egypt’s MENA news agency said.

In a recorded speech late Wednesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Zaki will return to Italy on Thursday.

“I want to thank the intelligence, both Italian and Egyptian diplomats, who in recent months have never stopped working to reach the desired solution.” Meloni said.

Zaki, who is Christian, was arrested in February 2020 shortly after landing in Cairo on a trip home from Italy where he was studying at the University of Bologna.