Tajikistan will release more than 11,300 inmates to mark the 35th anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union.
DUSHANBE: Tajikistan said Wednesday it will release more than 11,300 prisoners to mark the upcoming 35th anniversary of the central Asian former Soviet republic’s independence.
Tajikistan, which has been ruled since 1992 by strongman President Emomali Rakhmon, typically announces sweeping amnesties every five years to mark key anniversaries, including Independence Day on September 9.
The latest amnesty was announced Wednesday in the official paper of the Tajik parliament, a day after the president signed the legislation into law.
In total, it will affect 18,038 convicts: 11,305 will be released, and the other 6,733 will see their sentences reduced, all within two months.
Among those to be freed are nearly half of the 507 women currently imprisoned and three-quarters of the 134 juvenile detainees.
The remaining women and minors will have their sentences reduced.
The law does not specify whether any political opponents and journalists, of whom many were jailed recently, would be freed.
Rakhmon, 73, came to power in 1992 and exerts a tight grip on power in the poor, mountainous country.
He holds the official titles of “Founder of Peace and National Unity” and “Leader of the Nation” and his portraits and quotations can be seen across the country.
Rakhmon’s supporters credit him with reconciling the country after the civil war of 1992-1997 and reviving Tajik culture after the Soviet era.
However, numerous rights groups have criticised the suppression of independent media and political opposition, both of which are virtually non-existent in the country.
