15,858 people pardoned ahead of anniversary

A total of 15,858 prisoners have been released by Chinese courts as of Sept 12 since the country implemented its latest special pardon, Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

The effort was taken under an order of special pardons for nine categories of criminals that had been signed and issued by President Xi Jinping on June 29 for the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Oct 1.

Since then, political and law enforcement departments nationwide, including prosecuting authorities, courts and prisons, have gone through materials and reviewed cases to figure out who could be pardoned and to ensure the pardon's quality by rule of law.

By Sept 12, prosecuting authorities across the country have reviewed 23,211 cases for the special pardon and rectified 342 improper ones.

Public and State security organs carried out social risk assessments on the inmates to be pardoned to prevent their release from having any negative effect on social stability.

"We made a plan on how to enforce the special pardon," the agency quoted Hua Wei, deputy head of Shaanxi Provincial Prison, as saying. Every procedure in their case handling was recorded and disclosed, Hua added.

Deng Wenli, vice-president of Changsha Intermediate People's Court in Hunan province, told the agency they strictly reviewed materials, rulings and special pardon applications provided by prisons to ensure the accuracy of each case.

Meanwhile, education and social adaptability training sessions were also carried out for pardoned prisoners to help them prepare for their return to their families and society.

For example, an inmate surnamed Liu was sentenced to two years in prison for gambling in 2018. While she was serving the sentence, her husband died, leaving their 14-year-old son without care.

According to the special pardon order, there is a provision for female prisoners who have been bereaved of their spouses and have to look after their underage children or children with serious disabilities who are unable to care for themselves. Such prisoners are eligible for pardons only under the condition that they were sentenced to less than three years in prison or that their remaining jail terms are less than one year.

Liu met those requirements after a review by the intermediate people's court in Changsha, and she was released on Sept 2.

Xu Xianglian, head of the community where Liu is living, was pleased about her release, saying a good environment would be offered to help her reintegrate into society without discrimination.

Elsewhere, the justice bureau in Dongfang, a city in Hainan province, also aided pardoned prisoners by providing them employment opportunities.

Xinhua quoted Li Yun, head of the bureau, as saying that they provided labor skill training and education to a pardoned inmate surnamed Zhang to ensure he could reintegrate into society effectively and prevent him from reoffending.

The special pardon issued this year is the ninth since the founding of New China. From 1949 to 1975, seven special pardons were granted to prisoners, including war criminals and counterrevolutionary criminals.

In 2015, the country pardoned 31,527 criminals to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and World War II.