More than 1,600 prisoners have reportedly been amnestied in Tajikistan by October 28 under the law on amnesty signed by President Emomali Rahmon on October 25.
The amnestied prison inmates began being released on October 27, and Mansourjon Umarov, the chief of the Main Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Penalties, told Asia-Plus on October 28 that 187 women were released from the Nurek female penal colony and 60 minors were released from juvenile correctional facilities on October 27.
Besides, 558 inmates of the Dushanbe-based correctional facility No 7 were reportedly released on October 28.
According to Umarov, 794 people serving their terms in the Yovon Pena colony and 43 inmates of a special prison (prison for law enforcement officers) located in Dushanbe’s neighborhood 33 have also been released.
In all, more than 1,600 prions inmate have reportedly been released by Monday.
Recall, the amnesty law, which was drafted by President’s Executive Office to mark the 25th anniversary of adoption of Tajikistan’s Constitution, was endorsed by Tajikistan’s lower chamber of (Majlisi Namoyandagon) on October 25. President Emomali Rahmon signed the amnesty law on the same day.
Tajik chief prosecutor says the amnesty will extend to more than 20,000 people, including foreign nationals.
According to him, 3,100 convicts would be released from prisons and 3,000 inmates of corrective labor colonies would be released.
Besides, 4,500 individuals whose sentences were not associated with imprisonment will be pardoned as well, according to the chief prosecutor.
The amnesty is reportedly also applied to 600 defendants and suspects awaiting legal proceedings in pretrial detention facilities and probe against them will be stopped.
“Thus, 11,200 people are exempted from criminal liability,” Tajik chief prosecutor noted.
According to him, prisoners eligible for release under the amnesty include women, minors, foreign nationals, people with disabilities, World War II veterans, military deserters, convicts over 55, and those suffering from cancer or other serious illnesses. The amnesty also extends to persons serving jail terms for economic crimes if they pay damages.
The amnesty also extends to persons serving their jail terms for serious crimes who have served three-quarters of their terms — except for those found guilty of murder, terrorism, human trafficking, rape, torture and so forth.
In addition, prison terms of almost 10,000 inmates will be shortened.
This is 16th prisoner amnesty to be carried out in the past quarter century. Authorities have two months to put the releases into effect.
There are no reliable figures on the size of the prison population in Tajikistan, making it hard to assess the scale of this amnesty, which is said to be the largest in the country’s post-independence history.
