PHNOM PENH, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Only 49 prisoners in Cambodia are eligible to receive royal pardons or reduced sentences on the occasion of Water Festival, which starts next week, a Justice Ministry spokesman said on Thursday evening.
Justice Ministry spokesman Kim Santhepheap said prisons across the country proposed 421 prisoners for royal pardons or jail-term reduction on the occasion, but after a meeting, Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana decided to request King Norodom Sihamoni to grant royal pardons or reduce jail terms for 49 prisoners only, including four females.
"One prisoner will receive a royal pardon and 48 others will see their jail terms reduced," he told reporters.
According to the country's law, a prisoner is qualified for a royal amnesty provided he or she has served at least two-thirds of the jail term and behaved well while serving time in prison.
For a jail-term reduction, a well-behaved prisoner, who has served one-thirds of the prison term, will see his or her jail term cut between six months and one year.
Water Festival will be celebrated from Nov. 2 to 4 in capital Phnom Penh. It is the largest annual festival in the Southeast Asian nation. Hundreds of thousands of Cambodian people, especially rural dwellers, will flock to the capital city to enjoy the regatta.
The country usually pardons or cut jail terms for prisoners on the occasions of Khmer New Year, Visak Bochea (Buddha)'s Day, King's birthday and Water Festival.
