In a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by reducing congestion within prisons, the Government has formulated criteria to grant special general amnesty for prisoners who have served a long period of their long-term sentences.
The Presidential Secretary wrote to the Justice Ministry secretary this week detailing the criteria under which prisoners could be vetted and recommended for the general amnesty, as in terms of Article 34 of the Constitution, the President is empowered to pardon prisoner.
By November 20, those convicted prisoners who are serving long sentences would have been eligible for a grant of a special remission of three months for every year or part of a year already served, according to the letter issued by the Secretary to the President.
Accordingly, the remainder of sentences imposed in default of the payment of fines is to be remitted, provided such terms of imprisonment are being served concurrently.
Prisoners who are over 65 and have already served half or more of their sentences will also be eligible for the pardon.
Those who are sentenced to life and have already served 25 years from the date of their conviction by the High Court will also be eligible for the Presidential pardon.
The letter also stipulated that those serving sentences of imprisonment in default of the payment of fines imposed for the offences will not be eligible along with others who were convicted for offences cited by the Justice Minister.
As of this week, at least 821 prisoners and prison officers are confirmed to have contracted the virus from various prison clusters across the country.
