At the time when the fate of tens of thousands of the prisoners of conscience is still unknown in the intelligence’s basements…the Syrian president ridiculously issues an amnesty for “various crimes”
The Syrian president, Bashar Al-Assad, issued the legislative decree No. 20 of 2019, granting amnesty for the crimes committed before the 14th of September 2019, for all or part of the penalty according to its nature such as death penalty, the life sentence of hard labor and life sentence of detention (in the case that the aggrieved party disclaims the personal right), the decree also included amnesty for the whole temporary or permanent custodial penalties of prisoners with incurable disease and are over 75 years old, and a full or partial amnesty for some penalties stipulated in the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 19 of 2012, in addition to the penalties related to kidnappings in the case that the kidnapper sets free the kidnapped person safely and for nothing or hands him over to any relevant authorities within a month of the date of the decree to come into effect, the amnesty also included the crimes of those who escaped internally and aboard (in the case that those who escaped internally turn themselves in within 3 months and 6 months for those who escaped aboard), and the crimes of misdemeanors and contraventions as well as the actions and penalties related to the fines settled and paid to the public administration of the Custom House and the bureau de change or the relevant administration, in addition to other articles that include amnesty for the full penalty for a number of crimes stipulated in the Penal Code issued by Legislative Decree No. 148 of 1949 and its amendments, the decree also included exceptions that are not covered by the amnesty, and specific conditions to benefit from its provisions.
While the current decree is considered, like the previous decrees, as a lie, propaganda and polishing of the appearance of the Syrian regime and an attempt to improve its position, while such decrees come to equalize between the executioner and the victim at the time when tens of thousands of the prisoners of conscience are still in the prisons and security branches of the regime as well as those who were forcibly absent and have not covered by the previous presidential decrees, in addition to the mistrust towards the Syrian regime which made everyone has no ability to believe its tales and the successive amnesty laws it passes, which set the criminals free and maintain the prisoners of conscience and the people of the Syrian Revolution in prisons.