The first batch of prisoners, including two veterans, benefiting from a special amnesty to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II were discharged on Tuesday.
Zhang Baisen, an 84-year-old veteran, was released on Tuesday from a prison in Fanyu district, South China's Guangdong Province, an official with the prison told the Global Times. Zhang received a notice granting him amnesty from the Intermediate People's Court in Guangzhou on Tuesday morning.
He was the first prisoner to be released under the special amnesty since the order was promulgated by Chinese President Xi Jinping on August 29, the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News reported.
The veteran joined the army at 16 and was rewarded twice for fighting in the civil war against the Kuomintang.
The High People's Court of Guangdong Province sentenced Zhang to life in prison in September 2001, after he was found to have received 1.8 million yuan ($290,192) in bribes as chairman of a sub-branch of the China Construction Bank in Foshan, Guangdong Province.
Three other prisoners, including an 85-year-old veteran who fought in China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45), were also discharged in Central China's Henan Province on Tuesday morning, the Henan-based Dahe Daily reported.
The amnesty is geared towards four categories of prisoners, including jailed war veterans, juvenile minor criminal offenders and disabled elderly prisoners. Criminals convicted of serious crimes such as rape, terror activities, and criminal syndicates are not included.
"The majority of the amnestied would be minors, since only a few of the veterans that fought in the war are alive," Liu Renwen, a law professor from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
All pardoned prisoners will be released by the end of this year, the Xinhua News Agency reported in August, quoting Chu Huaizhi, one of the government's consultants on the amnesty.
The amnesty will be implemented in an accurate, strict, prudent and lawful manner and abuse of power by any organization or individual to seek personal benefits are not allowed, the government said.
"For the aged who are unable to care for themselves, the government will offer help for their life outside of prison," Chu said.
The older prisoners will need medical and housing support from the government, some of them have no family and no income to support themselves after they are released, the Legal Mirror newspaper quoted experts as saying.
