The Ministry of Justice has held a meeting to examine the royal pardon and jail term reduction requests for 542 prisoners for the upcoming Khmer New Year celebration.

The video conference meeting was chaired yesterday afternoon by the minister H.E. Koeut Rith, according to H.E. Kim Santepeap, Spokesperson and Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice.

The requests were received from 23 municipal and provincial committees (23 municipal and provincial prisons), and the committee of the Ministry of Interior (the 4 correctional centres), continued the spokesperson.

Of the 542 inmates (68 females), 70 (9 females) had filed the requests for the royal pardon, and 472 (59 females) for jail term reduction.

The jail term reduction and elimination are practiced for the prisoners who are aging, disabled, pregnant women, having chronic disease or mental problems.

The prisoners who have served noticeably well for at least two thirds of their sentence are valid to propose term elimination, and other good performing inmates serving one third of their jail term can request for the term reduction.

It is a usual practice in Cambodia that the government allows the consideration of inmates with special conditions and good performance to be granted royal pardon or jail term reduction during major traditional celebrations, like the January 7 Victory Day, Khmer New Year, Visak Bochea, the National Independence Day, and Water Festival.