The Belarusian lower house of parliament approved an amnesty bill in the second reading on Friday for more than 3,000 prisoners on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of victory in WWII.
Around 2,300 prisoners in high-security prisons and 1,000 inmates in correctional facilities are to be freed on amnesty. Another 10,000 could have their prison term cut by one year.
The legislative act will come into force after it is approved by the upper house of the Belarusian parliament and is signed by President Alexander Lukashenko.
Under the amnesty plan, underage persons, pregnant women, women or single men having underage children, pensioners, disabled persons, people infected with tuberculosis or HIV, as well as veterans of combat operations and participants of the Chernobyl disaster rescue effort will be freed.
Some 47,000 people are currently serving prison terms in Belarus, according to the country's Interior Ministry.
A spokesman for the ministry said the amnesty is unlikely to heighten the criminal rates in the country, as only 7-10% of those freed on amnesty commit crimes again, according to statistics.
The Belarusian leader, once dubbed by Washington "Europe's last dictator," is making efforts to improve relations with the European Union and the United States.
MINSK, June 4 (RIA Novosti)
