President Mnangagwa has granted amnesty to various categories of prisoners under Clemency Order Number 1 of 2024 published in an Extraordinary Gazette on Monday.
The President also commuted the death sentence to life
imprisonment to all inmates who have been on death roll for 10 years and above.
The announcement was made by Mrs Vimbai Nyemba, the
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
in General Notice 467 of 2024 and qualifying inmates are expected to be
released from the country’s prisons beginning this Wednesday.
Beneficiaries of the amnesty include all female inmates who
have served one third of their sentence by April 18, excluding those serving
time for specified offences and those who have previously been released on
amnesty.
Specified offences are murder, treason, rape or any sexual
offence, carjacking, robbery, public violence, human trafficking, unlawful
possession of firearms, contravention of the Electricity Act, contravention of
the Postal and Telecommunications Act, contravention of the Public Order and
Security Act/ Maintenance of Peace and Order Act and any conspiracy, incitement
or attempt to commit any of the offences listed above.
Inmates under the age of 18 will also benefit if they have
served one third of their sentence by April 18 but those charged under the
Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act are excluded from this Amnesty.
Prisoners serving an effective period of 48 months and
below who would have served one third of their sentence by April 18, provided
they are not convicted for specified offences, will also benefit.
The President also pardoned inmates certified terminally
ill by a Correctional Medical Officer or a Government Medical Officer (GMO)
with the Department of Correctional Services required to liaise with Social
Welfare so that there is continuity of treatment after release.
However, those charged under the Criminal Law (Codification
and Reform) Act are excluded from the Amnesty.
Inmates who are certified by a Correctional Medical Officer
or a Government Medical Officer to be visually impaired, and those who are
physically challenged to the extent that they cannot be catered for in a Prison
or Correctional environment and have served one third of their sentence by
April 18 will also be pardoned.
Those serving their sentences at open prisons provided they
were not charged under the Criminal Code will also be released while those
above 60 years will also benefit if they have served one tenth of their
sentence by April 18, and were not charged under the same law.
“Full remission of the remaining period is hereby granted
to all those inmates who would have served life imprisonment for at least 20
years. This includes inmates sentenced to life imprisonment, inmates whose
sentences were commuted from death to life imprisonment.
“In this case, the period of 20 years will include the
period when the inmate was serving as a prisoner under sentence of death and
inmates whose sentences were altered to life imprisonment on appeal or review,”
reads part of the Clemency Order. Herald
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