Syria Frees 60 Prisoners in Presidential Amnesty

According to a war monitor, Syrian authorities have released 60 inmates, including those who have been held in regime jails for more than a decade, as part of a presidential amnesty that includes terror-related convictions.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, "about 60 detainees have been released since Sunday, from various Syrian provinces, some of whom have spent at least 10 years" in regime prisons known for executions and torture.

During the country's 11-year war, which began when the regime repressed primarily nonviolent protests, President Bashar al-Assad has issued multiple amnesty decrees.

Human rights groups, on the other hand, claim that the new decree released on Saturday is the most thorough in terms of terrorism allegations.

The new edict calls for "universal amnesty for terrorist crimes perpetrated by Syrians" before April 30, 2022, "save for those that result in a person's death."

According to Rami Abdel Rahman, the chairman of the Britain-based Observatory, this might mean that tens of thousands of people could be released.

Many are charged with terrorism, which he describes as "a broad term used to punish persons who are unlawfully detained."

On social media, Syrians shared a list of 20 prisoners who had been released, including people who had spent years in the notorious Sednaya jail.

"This is the first time in years that inmates have walked away from Sednaya jail," Syria Justice and Accountability Centre director Mohammad Al Abdallah told AFP.

According to Amnesty International, Sednaya was a "human butcher" where authorities executed an estimated 13,000 inpiduals by hanging during a four-year period.