KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 19
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has granted amnesty to as many as 595 convicts doing time in prisons across the country to mark the National Democracy Day.
A press statement issued by the Office of the President stated that the eligible jailbirds, including Birkhahang Limbu, Sudip Limbu and Salindra Yadav, were pardoned in accordance with Criminal Offences (Determination and Execution of Sentence) Act-2017, Senior Citizens Act-2006 and National Criminal Procedure Act-2017, on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.
They were also relieved of fine and principal amount to be paid to the state for the crimes they committed, in addition to the sentence handed down to them by various courts. Nepal has a tradition of granting amnesty to eligible prisoners to mark major festivals such as Dashain, Tihar, Republic Day, National Democracy Day and Constitution Day.
The government may recommend to the president to waive off the remaining 60 per cent jail term of the prisoners, who have been convicted of small-time crimes and have already served at least 40 per cent of their sentence, provided that they have demonstrated good conduct in prison.
However, those convicted of heinous crimes, including kidnapping and hostage-taking, rape, child molestation, human trafficking, murder, jailbreak, money laundering, offence against state, war crime, corruption and smuggling of drugs and wildlife body parts are not entitled to presidential amnesty in accordance with the existing laws.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 20, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
