Amnesty included over 128,000 in one year

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: More than 128,000 detainees were released throughout one year in accordance with the amnesty law, an official justice source said on Sunday. “The general pardon law no. 19 of the year 2008 has covered 128,351 detainees until February 4, 2009 since it was issued on February 27, 2008,” an official spokesperson for the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Abdelsattar al-Bayraqdar, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “A total of 31,327 detainees were not included in the pardon,” he added. On February 13, 2008, the Iraqi parliament passed a law to pardon a number of inmates in Iraqi jails and also in U.S. detention centers in accordance with certain conditions and controls. SS (P) 1