Photos: Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa pardons 3000 prisoners to decongest crowded jails

Zimbabwe's new president Emmerson Mnangagwa has pardoned up to 3,000 prisoners, from the Chikurubi Prison. The pardon would decongest Zimbabwe's prisons which have around 20,000 inmates but a holding capacity of only 17,000. The pardon will benefit all female prisoners except those sentenced to death or facing life sentences, as well as all disabled and juvenile prisoners. ...read more

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Updated on Mar 25, 2018 10:59 AM IST

A female prisoner celebrates with songs in the back of a prison’s truck as she was released from the Chikurubi Prison, in Harare, Zimbabwe on March 22, 2018. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who succeeded ousted Robert Mugabe in November 2017, has pardoned at least 3,000 prisoners to clear out overpopulated jails of the country. (Jekesai Njikizana / AFP)

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Updated on Mar 25, 2018 10:59 AM IST

A female prisoner carries her belongings and gets ready to walk free as she was about to be released from the prison. The pardon saw the release of all female prisoners except those serving life terms, as well as all disabled and juvenile prisoners. Terminally-ill prisoners and those above the age of 60 who have served a third of their time were also be freed. (Jekesai Njikizana / AFP)

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Updated on Mar 25, 2018 10:59 AM IST

Zimbabwe opposition activist Yvonne Musarurwa (C) stands among other women in a courtyard as she was also about to be released from the Chikurubi Prison, where she was serving a prison term for the killing of a policeman during political clashes. Musarurwa was among 3,000 prisoners pardoned by Mnangagwa in a measure to ease pressure on overpopulated prisons. (Jekesai Njikizana / AFP)

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Updated on Mar 25, 2018 10:59 AM IST

Female prisoners leave the Chikurubi Maximum Prison after Mnangagwa pardoned the prisoners. “The president in terms of the constitution of Zimbabwe has granted amnesty to prisoners,” the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) said in a statement. “The exercise has... gone a long way in decongesting our prisons.” (Philimon Bulawayo / REUTERS)

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Updated on Mar 25, 2018 10:59 AM IST

Female prisoners carry their belongings to a prison's truck as they wait to be released from the prison. The president’s statement also announced that prisoners on death row for more than 10 years will not face the death penalty, but will spend life in jail. The country last executed a prisoner in 2005, and Mnangagwa is a strong opponent of the death penalty. (Jekesai Njikizana / AFP)

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Updated on Mar 25, 2018 10:59 AM IST

One of the inmates who were released on March 22, 2018, takes one last look at the prison as she stands in the back of a prison’s truck. Prisoners convicted of murder, treason, rape, carjacking, armed robbery and those serving a sentence imposed by a court martial were excluded from the amnesty. (Jekesai Njikizana / AFP)

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Updated on Mar 25, 2018 10:59 AM IST

A female prisoner carries her belongings as she was about to be released. The cash-strapped government has battled to feed, provide clothing and adequate health care to the inmates. In 2013, over 100 prisoners died in the country’s jails. In 2015 also four inmates were killed after prisoners went on riot over poor living conditions. (Jekesai Njikizana / AFP)

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Updated on Mar 25, 2018 10:59 AM IST

Female prisoners bid goodbye from the back of a prison’s truck as they were released from the prison. The ZPCS said that after releasing about 3,000 prisoners, the prison population will come down to 17,000. The last time that prisoners were released en masse was in May 2016 by former president Robert Mugabe when prisons were struggling to feed inmates due to lack of funding from the government. (Philimon Bulawayo / REUTERS)