Egypt's ruling military council chief Hussein Tantawi has approved the release of 1,959 people detained in military prisons, state media reported on Saturday.

"A total of 1,959 individuals, who had been imprisoned according to military courts' rules during the chaos that prevailed the country after the Jan. 25 uprising, were released," chief of the military court Adel Mursy was quoted by the official news agency MENA as saying.

Egypt's military took over power of the country since the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. It has been heavily criticized for detaining civilian protestors and referring them to military courts.