42 pardoned inmates released from Kandahar jail

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Forty-two prisoners, including two women, have been released from the central jail in southern Kandahar province, officials said on Saturday.

A ceremony held for the released inmates was attended by Kandahar Governor Zalmai Weesa, appellate chief prosecutor Abdul Rahman Koshan, and the presidential decrees’ implementation commission members.

Zalmai Weesa said the inmates were set free in line with the presidential pardon orders No. 110th and 124th.

He said based on the orders, 42 prisoners, including two women, were released and jail terms of another 27 were reduced.

The governor said the released inmates had served most part of their sentences, asking them to avoid violating the law again and live an ordinary life afterwards.

Abdul Salaam, a beneficiary of the presidential order, told Pajhwok Afghan News that he served one year in the prison. He was thinking to become a good human and lead a peaceful life.

The governor the meantime laid the foundation stone of a dining hall building for women at the Kandahar Jail.

The building would have four rooms and four bathrooms and work on it would be completed in one month.

Weesa said the building would cost $45,000 provided by UNDP.

Although the Kandahar Jail is built for 900 individuals, but as many as 1,915 inmates are currently held inside it. Of them 27 are women.

sns/ma