On festive grounds: Prisoners get remission for Eid

ISLAMABAD:

The government has cut down sentences of prisoners on Eid, with an exception of people convicted of heinous crimes.

On a summary initiated by the ministry of interior, President Mamnoon Hussain has approved the prime minister’s advice for the grant of special remission to the convicts on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, a statement said on Wednesday.

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A special remission of 90 days has been extended to the prisoners facing life imprisonment except those convicted for murder, espionage, anti-state activities, sectarianism, rape, robbery, kidnapping, abduction and terrorist acts, it said.

The government has also granted remission for 45 days to all other convicts except those convicted of heinous offences. Complete waiver of imprisonment term has been granted to male prisoners who are 65 years of age or above and women who are 60 or above and have served one-third of their sentence. The total remission is not available to those involved in culpable homicide and terrorist acts.

Read: President approves remission in jail terms on Eid

Female prisoners who have accompanying children and are imprisoned for crimes other than serious offences will get one year off.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2015.