Malawi's Mutharika pardons 495 inmates

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika has authorised the early release of 495 prisoners as part of celebrations marking the country's 43 years of independence, said the prison service on Wednesday.

Prison service spokesperson Tobias Nowa said: "It has pleased the president to pardon 495 prisoners who had shown good behaviour and had done half of their custodial sentence as part of the independence celebrations."

The number of releases accounted for some four percent of the overall prison population, which now stood at 10 691 inmates in the country's 23 prisons.

Nowa said: "It is a big relief on our part because this will reduce medical care, food and space since our prisons are overcrowded", adding that the country's jails were built to hold no more than 4 500 prisoners.

According to Nowa, despite the mass-release, "our prisons are still overcrowded", pointing out that "we often bank on the presidential pardons to reduce congestion".

Mutharika, who came to power after the former British colony's third multi-party elections in 2004, often freed prisoners being held for minor offences during independence, Christmas and Easter festivities.