SECOND CHANCE

China OKs Prisoner Amnesty Bill

Could free several thousand prisoners.

In commemoration of the end of World War II, China’s legislature approved a prisoner amnesty measure that could free several thousand war veteran or juvenile inmates. The exact number of prisoners depends on provincial courts, which will review sentences first. Inmates eligible for freedom include veterans of World War II, the Chinese civil war, and the Korean War, along with inmates over age 75 or below age 18 who were sentenced to three years or less, and inmates who are too sick to take care of themselves. Inmates who committed serious crimes, such as embezzlement, terrorism, organized crime, murder, rape and drug offenses, are not eligible.