17 Mugabe Amnesty beneficiaries back in prison A total of 17 prisoners who were among the thousands granted freedom under the 2014 Presidential Amnesty are back behind bars for committing various crimes barely a month after their release. The 17 were re-arrested after being linked to house-breaking and unlawful entry cases in their respective communities. A total of 3 129 inmates drawn from the countrys 42 prisons benefited from the amnesty. Of these, 485 were women. Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) spokesperson Chief Superintendent Elizabeth Banda told The Sunday Mail that all the 17 were men. She said interviews conducted so far indicate that the inmates were stigmatised by society, a development that forced them into crime. Of the over 3 000 inmates who were released last month from various prisons, 17 of them were arrested after committing different offences. They are now in various correctional facilities waiting to be sentenced. We noted that the majority of the inmates committed house-breaking and unlawful entry in the areas they were living after the parole. Interviews that were carried out by our various officers among the 17 prisoners who only tasted their freedom for a few days (before the return to crime) was a result of society stigmatisation. Society should accept people who were pardoned under the parole because if these individuals are shunned they end up committing crimes to sustain their daily needs. Chief Supt Banda said inmates released under special parole had completed more than 25 percent of their sentences by December 20, 2013. Juveniles at open prisons and inmates who had reached the age of 70 and above were also released, including those who were ill. Prisoners who did not qualify to be pardoned under the parole included those who were in custody for murder, rape, car-jacking, armed robbery and treason. Others were not released because they previously applied for bail pending appeal, but had their appeals dismissed by the High Court. Those who were remanded in custody were not pardoned. Before the amnesty, there were 18 980 prisoners countrywide against a holding capacity of 17 000. The parole helped ease the budget of the ZPCS, which needs over US$1 million every month to provide inmates with three daily meals. A day after the latest amnesty, three Khami Prison inmates were re-arrested after they broke into a house in Nketa 7, Bulawayo, where they stole an assortment of valuables worth about US$865. In 2009, a total of 2 544 prisoners were pardoned with 20 percent of them finding their way back behind bars shortly afterwards. Speaking on Star FM programme The Hub last week, Chief Supt Banda said although the ZPCS worked with other stakeholders on programmes for ex-convicts, the organisation itself would soon begin follow-up initiatives to help former inmates. She said society should also understand that criminal rehabilitation is a process. Mugabe Prison Amnesty Source: Sunday Mail - See more at: bulawayo24/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-44753.html#sthash.p6H3YbDW.dpuf
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 08:52:44 +0000
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