DUSHANBE/KHUJAND, September 4, Asia-Plus  -- More than 300 prisoners, including 150 women, have been released under amnesty law in Tajikistan by September 2, according to information from the penal system department of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).  

The source says the amnestied prisoners will be released stage-by-stage within six months after studying of their cases’ materials.  

In the meantime, 40 other prisoners were released under amnesty law in the northern province of Sughd on September 1.  Jamshed Ismoilov, a chief aide to the Sughd prosecutor, has told Asia-Plus that 20 prisoners, including 3 women, were released from pretrial detention # 5, and 20 other prisoners were released from the high-security penal colony # 19 in Khujand.  

According to him, 83 prisoners, including 30 women, have been released from pretrial detention facilities and penal colonies in northern Tajikistan since the amnesty law took effect.  

The amnesty applies to elderly, young and sick prisoners who are serving sentences for minor crimes.  The amnesty does not apply to persons serving their sentences for grave and especially grave crimes, as well as for killing two and more people, recidivists and those who committed crimes in prisons.