Accept prisoners released on Presidential Amnesty: Mabhiza

CHIVI – Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Virginia Mabhiza has urged Zimbabweans to accept prisoners who were released on Presidential Amnesty, saying they were people who deserved to be given a second chance in life.

Mabhiza said this while addressing people in Chivi at the constitutional alignment outreach programme organised by her ministry.

A villager had asked why they were seeing people convicted of various crimes returning back to their homes as free people.

“We must accept the people who were released on Presidential Amnesty in our communities because they are our relatives. Despite the crimes that they did, they deserve second chances because they are human beings as well,” she said.

Speaking to TellZim News, Mabhiza said that the amnesty released people who committed minor crimes but did not release those who committed serious crimes like murder or rape to protect the citizens.

Last month, President Mugabe announced an amnesty that almost emptied all female prisons but also benefitted a number of male offenders convicted of lesser crimes.news