President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the Pardoning a group of persons serving a sentence who sincerely repented of their deeds and firmly embarked on the path of correction Decree.
The Decree signed on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of Uzbekistan’s Constitution pardoned 334 people. Of those pardoned, 34 were released from serving the sentence, 249 were released on parole, the punishment of 6 persons has been replaced with a milder one. While, the sentences of 45 people were reduced.
Among those pardoned were 23 women, 15 men aged over 60, 18 foreign nationals, 88 people who participated in the activities of banned organizations.
Relevant ministries and departments were instructed to return the pardoned to their families and loved ones, to assist them in social adaptation, helping with employment, to choose a healthy lifestyle and taking a worthy place in society.
The presidential pardon tradition on the occasion of various public holidays dates back to the Soviet times. The pardon tradition nourishes corruption within the penitentiary system, with many convicts trying to bribe officials in return of being added to pardon lists. This in turn results in well-off people not getting intimidated from committing crimes due to the existence of pardon lifeline.
