Zimbabwe has released about a fifth of all prisoners under a presidential amnesty order meant to decongest the country’s overcrowded jails.
The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) said more than 4,000 inmates – mostly men – were let out, in what it described as a noble gesture.
Violent criminals as well as those convicted of robbery, treason and public order offences were excluded.
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Prisons in Zimbabwe are suffering from extreme overcrowding.
The move comes ahead of general elections in August.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is battling a cost of living crisis, high inflation and power cuts.
