{"id":35619,"date":"2026-05-27T15:40:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=35619"},"modified":"2026-05-27T15:40:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T13:40:18","slug":"zambia-president-pardons-over-1-500-inmates-to-commemorate-africa-day","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/zambia-president-pardons-over-1-500-inmates-to-commemorate-africa-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Zambia President pardons over 1 500 inmates to commemorate Africa Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has exercised his constitutional prerogative of mercy to pardon 1 505 prisoners across the country. In a simultaneous directive, the sentences of an additional 797 inmates have been officially commuted, allowing them to serve out their remaining time under significantly adjusted conditions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The extensive use of presidential clemency was executed in accordance with Article 97 of the Constitution of Zambia, which empowers the head of state to substitute or entirely remit severe punishments imposed on convicted individuals. According to senior administrative briefs, the sweeping releases are deliberately aimed at mitigating intense overcrowding across the national correctional system, whilst offering fully rehabilitated individuals an immediate pathway toward societal reintegration.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Reporting on the executive orders, journalist Ziyenela Zimba highlighted that the mass release coincided directly with national commemorations for Africa Day. In a public address following the announcements, Hichilema urged communities and families to actively embrace the returning citizens, warning that social discrimination and systemic neglect frequently force former inmates back into patterns of reoffending.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23533,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-35619","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has exercised his constitutional prerogative of mercy to pardon 1 505 prisoners","published_date":"2026-05-27 15:30:05","news_description":"Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has exercised his constitutional prerogative of mercy to pardon 1 505 prisoners","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35620,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35619\/revisions\/35620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}