On Tuesday, UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen said that the “amnesty” issued by regime president Bashar al-Assad is a “positive and important development.”
“A presidential amnesty decree was announced, which many saw as a very important and positive development,” Pedersen said at a conference in support of Syria, held in Brussels. Sputnik reported that the Syrian Justice Ministry said that hundreds had benefited from the amnesty, which followed separate amnesty decisions.
“When I visit Damascus next month, I hope to get more information on the results of the presidential amnesty decree,” Pedersen said. He expressed the hope that “the next round of meetings of the Constitutional Committee, at the end of this month, will make even a little progress.”
Read Also: Number of Released From Sednaya Revealed
Pedersen called on the international community to increase its support for Syria, adding that Syria is now suffering from economic crises exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, the events in Ukraine.
On Sunday, the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya Prison revealed the number of detainees released from Sednaya prison as part of the latest “amnesty” decree issued by regime president Bashar al-Assad.
As of Sunday evening, 117 detainees had been released from Sednaya prison and been documented, the association said in a statement on Facebook.
Six of those released detainees date back to the first months of the revolution, specifically in 2011, while eight cases back to 2012, the statement said. 32 detainees were arrested in 2018.
The regime released a few dozen detainees in batches, who had been arrested by regime security and forces during the Syrian revolution. The detainees were released in connection with the regime’s recent amnesty.
The regime has arbitrarily detained more than 150,000 Syrians in its prisons and detention centers for years, without releasing information about the detainees’ fate.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
