90 prisoners freed on presidential order

KABUL): Almost 90 prisoners were released and jail terms of 95 others reduced in Nangarhar, Nimroz, Jawzjan and Samangan provinces in compliance with orders from President Hamid Karzai, officials said on Wednesday.

Twenty-nine inmates were freed from jails in the eastern zone, where three children also released from a juvenile centre and imprisonment terms of 20 others cut from two years to six months.

Released prisoners had served half of their terms and their cases would be reviewed by a government-appointed delegation, Director General of Prisons in Eastern Zone Col. Abdulwali Hesarak told Pajhwok Afghan News.

“I was sentenced to one and half year imprisonment for injuring a person in a traffic accident. Before walking out, I spent 14 months in jail,” said one of the beneficiaries, Izatullah, a resident of Surkhrod district of Nangarhar.

Attaullah Fikri, the judge of Nimroz court, said 29 prisoners were freed from the main provincial jail. A total of 187 inmates, including three females, are being held at the prison.

Sher Ahmad, released from the jail, said he had killed a man and was jailed for five years on the murder charge. He was freed after spending four years behind bars.

In Jawzjan province, 15 prisoners including a woman and three children were freed. Imprisonment terms of 27 others were cut, said Brig. Gen. Abdullah Aziz, the superintendent of the provincial jail, where 702 inmates are currently being held.

Similarly, 10 prisoners including a female were released and jail terms of 13 others slashed in northern Samangan province, said Lt. Col. Muhammad Daud Haidari, the jail superintendent. A total of 220 prisoners including 18 females are being held in the facility.

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