ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has granted a 90-day remission to prisoners under specific categories in order to provide relief to inmates on the occasion of the 78th Independence Day of Pakistan, state media reported on Monday.
Pakistan celebrates its Independence Day every year on August 14. The remission will apply to male prisoners of 65 years and above and female inmates above 60 years, who have served one-third of their term.
It will also be applicable to female prisoners serving their sentences with their children as well as inmates under the age of 18 years, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“The President granted the remission of the sentence under Article 45 of the Constitution of Pakistan,” the report read.
Article 45 empowers the president to “grant pardon, reprieve and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority.”
The remission will not be applicable to prisoners involved in “anti-state activities, espionage, murder, rape, theft, robbery, kidnapping and terrorism,” according to the report.
“Those involved in financial crimes, causing loss to the national exchequer, and convicted under the Foreigners Act 1946, and Narcotics Control (Amendment) Act 2022 will also be ineligible to get this remission,” it read.
Pakistani leaders have often announced reduction in sentences of prisoners on religious occasions and days of national significance.
In March, President Zardari approved a special remission for prisoners on the occasion of Pakistan Day and Eid Al-Fitr. In 2022, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had approved a two-month reduction in prisoner terms on account of Eid Al-Fitr.
Pakistan president grants remission in sentences to prisoners for 78th Independence Day
https://arab.news/43qv5
Pakistan president grants remission in sentences to prisoners for 78th Independence Day
- The remission was granted under Article 45 of the constitution
- Prisoners convicted of serious crimes won’t be benefitted by it
Pakistan arrests suspect arriving from Cambodia amid crackdown on human smuggling
- Suspect worked at an “online fraud company” in Cambodia, later started smuggling people from Pakistan, says FIA
- Pakistan has intensified crackdown against human smugglers after hundreds of migrants drowned near Pylos in 2023
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday said it had arrested a key suspect involved in smuggling humans who had arrived from Cambodia, alleging he was also part of an international fraud network.
The suspect, identified as Zainullah, was arrested by FIA officials when he arrived in the southern port city of Karachi from Cambodia.
Zainullah had traveled from Pakistan to Cambodia in September 2024, a press release issued by the agency said.
“He worked at an online fraud company in Cambodia and later became involved as an agent in recruiting individuals from Pakistan,” the FIA said.
The FIA said it recovered images of multiple individuals’ passports, payment receipts and bank transaction records after extracting data from Zainullah’s phone.
It said the suspect received money through personal bank accounts and a cryptocurrency account.
“The suspect has been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Karachi, for further legal proceedings,” the FIA said.
“Further investigation is underway.”
Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank off the Greek town of Pylos, one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean.
Authorities say they continue to target networks sending citizens abroad through dangerous routes, following heightened scrutiny at airports and a series of arrests involving forged documents.
Pakistan’s interior ministry said this week illegal migration to Europe has declined by 47 percent this year after its nationwide crackdown, saying that more than 1,700 human smugglers have been arrested in 2025.
