Saudi pardons 25,000 prisoners in last year

Royal pardons have led to the release of around 25,000 prisoners in Saudi Arabia over the last year, it was reported on Sunday.

Three royal pardons have been issued in the last year, two related to Ramadan and one to mark the healthy return of Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, the Arab News reported on Sunday.

The pardons have led to the release of around 25,000 prisoners from the Kingdom’s jails and director general of prisons Major General Ali Al-Harithy said.

“All prisoners serving time on public rights will benefit from the pardon declared by the King… but prisoners convicted of security violations do not come under the pardon,” he explained.

However, Al-Harithy added that any prisoner released who reoffends will have to serve the remainder of their pardoned sentence on top of any new punishment.

The report added that twelve prisoners in Jeddah, who were serving time for failure to repay their loans, were released after the money they owed was paid by a charity society.

The director of prisons in Makkah, Brig. Atiyyah Al-Zahrani, also issued a statement denying allegations that guards helped smuggle illegal items into the jail.

He also reaffirmed that conditions were adequate for prisoners and they were supplied with the “the best food”, never subjected to torture or punishment, given opportunities for further education and were encouraged to learn the Holy Qur’an.