Vietnam to offer amnesty to some 7,000 prisoners
Vietnam will grant special amnesty to about 7,000 convicts on the occasion of National Day, which falls on Sept. 2, local newspaper Youth reported Wednesday.
Under a decision recently signed by Vietnamese State President Nguyen Minh Triet, prisoners eligible for the special amnesty include those who are serving their imprisonment sentences or whose sentences are pending or postponed.
Inmates, who committed felony, seriously undermined national security and organized crimes, or whose life imprisonment sentences have yet to be commuted, are not eligible for the amnesty. Besides, economic criminals who have not finished compensation, drug criminals, and armed robbers are not eligible.
As a rule, Vietnam offers amnesty to prisoners on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (in February), the National Reunification Day (April 30), May Day and National Day.
The country commuted sentences and released ahead of terms a total of 798 inmates on the occasion of the National Reunification Day and May Day this year.
Xinhua - July 12, 2006.
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