King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has instructed all inmates in jail through public prosecutions be released and allowed out to spend the month of Ramadan with their families. Ali Bin Hussein Al-Harthi, General Director of Prisons, said the move did not include those serving sentences for security-related crimes. He said precise figures were still unavailable as the 15 Pardon Committees around the Kingdom were still determining some prisoners' eligibility. “The pardon does not mean their punishments have been annuled, as the remaining jail term will be added should a released inmate commit another crime,” Al-Harthi said. Committees from Care for Prisoners and their Families have begun handing out assistance to the families of the prisoners and working to provide work to those released, Al-Harithi said. “I would ask the public not to turn their backs on former prisoners and to help them find work and provide them with jobs if possible,” he said. Saeed Al-Huqbani, Director of Riyadh's Al-Hayer Correction House, said the center had released 70 prisoners – 25 Saudis and 45 non-Saudis – the first group to benefit from the royal pardon, while the Al-Ahsa Correction House has released 18 prisoners, with more expected to in the next few days. In Abha, Chairman of the Insolvent Prisoners' Committee and Emir of Asir Prince Faisal Bin Khaled has ordered that the debts of 20 prisoners be paid and that the inmates be released. The payment of the debts, which amounted to approximately SR800,000 owed to private individuals, was expected to lead to releases Saturday in sentences that were unrelated to criminal action. Prince Faisal called on the business community to support the committee that he described as “striving to achieve humanitarian goals” through its concern for individuals who have had private action taken against them. – Okaz/SG (Abdullah Obaidallah Al-Ghamdi, Abdul Muhsin Al-Harithi, Abdul Hadi Ismael and By Sa'eed Al-Zahrani contributed to this report) __
