The president of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, pardoned more than 1,000 prisoners on the anniversary of the country's adoption of its national constitution on May 18, RIA-Novosti reports.
The president was shown on national TV instructing the government to release the pardoned prisoners. He said that they should be allowed to go home to their families in order to celebrate the holiday. He also ordered all those released to be provided with jobs.
Berdymukhammedov added that prisoners would be pardoned on a regular basis, following the tradition of his late predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov.
