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 34th anniversary of Uzbekistan’s Independance pardoned 523 people. Of those pardoned, 195 were released from serving the sentence, 147 were released on parole, the punishment of 87 persons has been replaced with a milder one. While, the sentences of 94 people were reduced.
Among those pardoned were 45 women, 31 men aged over 60, 220 under 30 years of age, including one minor, 8 foreign nationals, 15 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. The pardon tradition nourishes corruption within the penitentiary system, with many convicts trying to bribe 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.
