/ 10 August 2001

MUGABE TO FREE 3 000 PRISONERS

ZIMBABWE’S President Robert Mugabe is expected to declare a general amnesty for nearly 3 000 prisoners in a bid to decongest the country’s overcrowded jails, a cabinet minister has said. Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Patrick Chinamasa said Mugabe would soon pardon 2 987 inmates to reduce the prison population, according to a cabinet report published by the state-owned Herald. Zimbabwe’s prisons, which have a capacity to hold 16 000 inmates currently hold some 22 500 people. – AFP