Turkmenistan: the authorities pardoned 815 prisoners

President of Turkmenistan Berdimuhamedow signed a decree pardoning 815 prisoners, three of them are foreign citizens. This action is timed to the 29th anniversary of the country’s independence celebrated on September 27th. The decree was signed at an extended government meeting on September 24.

Berdimuhamedow instructed regional governors to provide jobs for those pardoned, even though the unemployment rate in the country reaches 50 percent.

Pardons do not apply to persons convicted for religious and political reasons.

Recall that during the last act of pardon on May 16 of this year, 1402 convicts were released, more than 50% of them were infected with COVID-19. The authorities of Turkmenistan do not officially recognize the presence of COVID-19 in the country.

Turkmenistan ranks third in the world in terms of the number of prisoners per population after the United States and El Salvador.