Press: Some prisoners freed under presidential amnesty did not meet necessary criteria

Some prisoners freed from Czech jails this month under a presidential amnesty did not actually qualify for early release, Mladá fronta Dnes reported on Tuesday. The newspaper said some judges made mistakes due to the fact they were dealing with so many cases in a short time period, while others have said the wording of the amnesty is unclear. The minister of justice, Pavel Blažek, said it was not possible to return prisoners who had been mistakenly released.

Over 6,000 prisoners serving terms of less than a year were freed early under the amnesty, which President Václav Klaus said he had declared to mark the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Czech Republic on January 1.

Author: Ian Willoughby