2024-04-06 21:48:42
The Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah II, ratified a general amnesty law that includes the release of more than 7,000 prisoners, days before Eid al-Fitr, according to what official media reported.
The official Petra news agency said on Tuesday, “The Royal Decree was issued today approving the General Amnesty Law of 2024, in the form approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives.”
The official “Al-Mamlaka” TV channel quoted the Chief Public Prosecutor, Yousef Al-Dhiabat, as saying: “The procedures for the process of releasing those included in the law will begin as of Wednesday, after all their schedules are completed and revised.”
He continued: “It will be a very fast process.”
It also quoted the Minister of Justice, Ahmed Al-Zayadat, as saying: “The general amnesty will include the release of 7,355 inmates in correctional centers, including 4,688 for various misdemeanors, and 2,667 for drug-related misdemeanors.”
The general amnesty includes all criminal and misdemeanor crimes, violations, and criminal acts that occurred before March 19, 2024.
It excludes 38 crimes, most notably those related to state security, terrorism, human trafficking, espionage, rape, forgery, and money laundering.
On March 20, King Abdullah ordered the government to prepare a draft general amnesty law and implement its constitutional procedures, on the occasion of the silver jubilee of his assumption of his constitutional powers and accession to the throne.
The government granted the draft law urgent status to pass its constitutional stages, as it was approved by the House of Representatives and then the Senate. The King ratified it on Tuesday, and it was published in the Official Gazette to become effective.
Since assuming his constitutional powers in 1999, the Jordanian king has issued 4 general amnesty laws, the first of which was in 1999, the second in 2011, the third in 2019, and the fourth this year.
Since the date of the first general amnesty in Jordan in 1924, this is the eighteenth general amnesty.
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2024-04-06 21:48:42