2023-05-20 12:05:43
HARARE. Zimbabwe began releasing more than 4,000 prisoners following a presidential amnesty that authorities say will help several overcrowded prisons.
Some 800 inmates were released from Central Prison and Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, both in the capital Harare, on Friday. Other prisons in the country released inmates eligible for the measure as early as Thursday, Penitentiary Service spokeswoman Meya Khanyezi said.
The amnesty “will go a long way toward reducing the prison population,” the spokeswoman added.
Overpopulation of criminals
The country’s prisons hold 17,000 people, but house more than 20,000.
Former inmates have complained in the past about overcrowding and other hardships such as lack of food and adequate medical care. Amnesty International had described conditions in Zimbabwean prisons as “deplorable”.
The southern African country of 15 million inhabitants often resorts to presidential amnesties to relieve prison congestion.
One of the recipients of the latest pardon, John Mafararikwa, who was serving a 17-month sentence for robbery, was relieved.
“It is crowded and the food is bad. Most of the time we eat food prepared without cooking oil,” said Mafararikwa, 71, as he boarded a bus that would take him and other beneficiaries of the measure away from Harare Central Prison.
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