The Tajik Parliament has approved an amnesty initiated by President
Emomali Rahmon for 15,000 people, RIA Novosti reports.
Prosecutor General Sherkhon Salimzoda said that the initiative is
democratic and humanitarian. 8 groups of citizens will be released and
6 others freed from persecution.
It is the 13th amnesty in Tajikistan since independence in 1991. 4,000
people will be released from prison, 256 of whom are women and 150 are
juveniles.
This amnesty affects people involved in the coup of 1997-1998 who have
passed a quarter of their sentence and are persecuted.
The former head of the National Guard, Gafor Mirzoyev, convicted for
treachery and coup-plotting, will not be pardoned. The sentences of
former Interior Minister Yakub Salimov (sentenced to 15 years) and
former Interior Minister Makhmadruzi Iskandarov (sentenced to 23
years) will be reduced.
The previous amnesty was held in November 2009 to mark the 15th
anniversary of independence. 10,000 people were pardoned.
