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 32nd anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence pardoned 286 people. Of those pardoned, 109 were released from serving the sentence, 116 were released on parole, the punishment of 25 persons has been replaced with a milder one. While, the sentences of 36 people were reduced.
Among those pardoned were 39 women, 22 men aged over 60, 30 foreign nationals, 3 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. However, pardon tradition nourishes corruption within the penitentiary system, with many convicts trying to evade imprisonment by bribing 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.