索马里总统独立日大赦囚徒

Somalia’s president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo ordered the release of 91 prisoners on Saturday as part of activities marking the nation's Independence Day.

In May, President Farmajo set up a nine-member commission to look into the state of prisons. The commission recommended the pardon of a number of prisoners held for petty crimes. Most of those pardoned were serving prison terms for debt and mobile phone theft.

"I have seen one of the prisoners released today was jailed for almost 20 dollars, another one for 100 dollars. Really the custodial corps could pay that money but I see this as a needed step,” said general Hussein Hassan Osman, commander of Somali Custodial Corps.

Released prisoners thanked the president for the pardon and promised they would use this opportunity to rebuild their lives.