DAR ES SALAAM, Dec 10 (AFP) - Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa has pardoned 3,656 prisoners, including the sick, elderly, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, to mark the country's 43rd independence anniversary, the home affairs ministry said late Thursday.
"Prisoners who will benefit from the presidential clemency include those convicted of murder when they were under 18 years of age," it said in a statement.
But it said that only those who have stayed behind bars for not less than 15 years qualified for the pardon in this category.
Other beneficiaries of the presidential clemency were those suffering from serious and highly contagious diseases including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and cancer, whose continued stay in prison could result in their deaths.
It however noted that a team of doctors, led by the district or regional medical officer, will have to certify the condition of such prisoners before they are included on the list of those pardoned.
It also said that another category of prisoners to benefit was that comprising inmates aged 70 and over but noted that the ages would have to be clinically proved.
"All inmates serving sentences of less than three years, as well as pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, will also be set free," it added.
The statement said the pardon excluded inmates sentenced to death, those serving life imprisonment and ones initially sentenced to death but who had had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
Also not covered in the pardon are those convicted of corruption, unlawful possession of narcotic drugs, armed robbery and robbery with violence.
"Prisoners who escaped or attempted to escape while under arrest, those convicted of motor vehicle theft and cattle rustling have also not been pardoned.
"Also not pardoned are sexual offence convicts and ones whose sentences were reduced under previous presidential clemencies and returned to jail, as well as inmates who have been in prison for less than three months," it added.
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