Over 800 citizens pardoned in Turkmenistan
ASHGABAT. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow has signed a decree pardoning 859 citizens on the occasion of a national holiday, State Flag Day, observed on February 19.
The decree published by national newspapers on Friday said that the pardoned offenders would be released from custody and relieved from travel restrictions as an additional form of penalty.
"On the occasion of the remarkable date observed by our country, being guided by the principles of charity and humanism bequeathed by our forefathers, we regularly pardon convicts, those who break the law but repent with a sincere heart," Berdimuhamedow said at a government meeting on Thursday as he was signing the decree.
He ordered heads of law enforcement authorities to release the pardoned convicts from custody and bring them back to their families before the holiday. "We thereby give these people a chance to go back to a worthy life and atone for their guilt with honest labor and an active contribution to the country's development," Berdimuhamedow said.
Pardons are regularly declared in Turkmenistan on the occasion of major national holidays. The practice was launched by first Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov who signed in 1999 the Law "On the Annual Amnesty and Pardon on the Occasion of the Holy Gadyr Gijesi (The Night of Omnipotence)." Previously, Turkmenistan held amnesties only once a year, in honor of the Night of Omnipotence in the Holy Muslim Month of Oraza. President Berdimuhamedow made that practice regular, mostly timed to coincide with national holidays - Independence Day, Neutrality Day, State Flag Day and others.
A total of 630 citizens were pardoned two months ago, in December 2013, on the occasion of Neutrality Day.
