In the spirit of the festive season, President David Granger has extended his presidential pardon to another group of female prisoners.
The five women from the New Amsterdam Prison, who benefited from this year’s presidential pardon and will be going home to their families are: 24-year-old Shellon David, 27-year-old Ronella Junor, 27-year-old Maxine Baird Sampson, 37-year-old Shabana Asgar, and 54-year-old Reina Vargas.
According to the Public Security Ministry on Friday, the Head of State considered these women to be “fit and proper” to receive such pardons, which were done via powers under Article 188 (2) of the Constitution. The pardons will be effective from December 25, 2017. It was noted that these prisoners have each served a portion of their respective sentences for offences ranging from larceny and fraud to giving false oaths.
The five beneficiaries were recommended by the Director of Prisons and were also reviewed by the Legal Affairs Ministry as well as the Public Security Ministry.
President Granger started the pardon exercise back in 2015, mere days after taking office. However, he has faced much criticism over these pardons.
He had pardoned over 50 prisoners on two separate occasions in 2015 – 40 for Guyana’s 49th Independence Anniversary and 11 for that year’s Christmas.
However, no pardons were done during the country’s 50th Independence Anniversary last year, and President Granger had explained that this was as a result of the selected prisoners not fully meeting the criteria set out. The same obtained for the 2016 Christmas holiday as well.
The pardoned prisoner programme is an initiative of the Guyanese leader to give young “petty” convicts a second chance at life. Initially, the criteria used to select the beneficiaries included prisoners who were facing short sentences; those who were incarcerated for petty, non-violent offences; and those between the ages of 18 and 24. However, this pardoning of criminals has caused and continues to cause uneasiness among Guyanese, especially business owners. Persons were also calling for the identities of these convicts to be made public, but it was explained that this would hinder the reintegration of these persons into society.
