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| Participants at the press conference. (Photo: VNA) |
According to Decision No. 957/QD-CTN signed by President To Lam on September 29, 3,763 prisoners who are currently serving sentences and two others who had their sentences temporarily suspended, will be pardoned.
The President signed the decision at the request of the Advisory Council on Amnesty on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of National Day and the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Capital.
In response to reporters’ questions regarding the cases of foreign nationals granted amnesty this time, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet stated that, according to the decision, 20 foreign prisoners will be pardoned this time.
The foreigners are from China, Laos, Cambodia, the US, South Africa, India, Congo, and Ireland.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send diplomatic notes to the relevant countries' diplomatic missions and consular offices requesting coordination with Vietnamese authorities to receive those granted amnesty and to start the process of taking these people back to their home country or to a safe and suitable place of residence, Viet said.
Ha stated that the amnesty once again reaffirms the leniency policy of the Party and the State, as well as the humanitarian tradition of the Vietnamese people towards offenders, encouraging them to repent and reform to become useful members of society.
According to Ha, the policy of the Party and the State toward offenders combines "strict punishment" with "leniency". Therefore, the penalties imposed by Vietnam's criminal law are not only meant to punish those who commit offenses but also to rehabilitate them into useful citizens of society, fostering their awareness of obeying the law and societal rules, and preventing them from committing new crimes. Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Ngoc Lam said that the pardoned prisoners this time include 561 people of ethnic minority groups. In reply to reporters' inquiry, he said the list of those who are granted amnesty this year do not include Chu Ngoc Anh, Pham Xuan Thang and Dinh La Thang./.