Amnesty for 545 in Vietnam
Some 545 prisoners in the Vietnamese capital have been granted an amnesty or had their sentences commuted, state media
announced today, the communist nation's National Day.
Hanoi authorities will release 13 inmates and cut the sentences of 62 others by one to eight months for good behaviour, the
Communist Party's Nhan Dan newspaper said. Ninety-eight inmates in the southern business capital of Ho Chi Minh City were
released on Friday while 269 others have had their sentences cut by three to 20 months for good behaviour.
The Justice Ministry's Phap Luat newspaper on Monday said nine prisoners in the northeastern port city of Haiphong will receive
their release papers, while 93 others will have their sentences commuted by two to six months.
Amnesties are usually granted in the lead up to National Day celebrations and at the beginning of the Lunar New Year, but they are
sometimes handed out at other times of the year. Vietnam's National Day celebrations mark the declaration of independence from
French colonial rule proclaimed by Communist Party founding father Ho Chi Minh on September 2, 1945.
News.com.au - September 2, 2003
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