LUNGU PARDONS 593 INMATES

President Edgar Chagwa Lungu speaks during the tour of Toshiba Energy Systems Keihin Operations in Tokyo,Japan on Tuesday,December 18,2018. PICTURE BY SALIM HENRY/STATE HOUSE ©2018
President Edgar Lungu has pardoned 593 inmates through the Presidential amnesty.
This is in commemoration of Christmas Day which falls on December 25.
Of the 593 pardoned inmates, 575 were serving short-term sentences while 18 were serving long-term.
Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo has announced that the pardoned inmates were based in various correctional facilities across the country.
Mr. Kampyongo says of the total number, 43 are female.
Speaking during a media briefing in Shiwangàndu , Mr. Kampyongo said the Ministry and staff of the Zambia Correctional service is grateful to the President for exercising his prerogative of mercy at a time when correctional facilities are congested.
He said the gesture will also benefit inmates who are still in incarceration from a reduction in population.
The President’s exercise of the prerogative of mercy is in accordance with the laws of Zambia which provides for the Presidential pardon and substitution of severe sentence imposed on the convicted prisoner by the courts.