Hakainde Hichilema, the president of Zambia, has granted pardons to 588 prisoners incarcerated in various institutions throughout the nation.
The Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Jack Mwiimb, stated that among the released prisoners were eleven elderly people and a mother carrying a child.
Two death row inmates had their sentences commuted to life on Mwimb on Sunday, while an inmate’s life sentence was reduced to 35 years in the capital Lusaka.
President Hichilema’s pardoning of the prisoners was in accordance with Article 97 of the national Constitution, which gives the president the power to commute sentences for convicted individuals or to pardon them altogether.
The minister stated that the released prisoners had behaved well during their rehabilitation, allowing them to successfully reintegrate into society.
Human rights organisations, in particular, have praised the president’s decision.
