Ecuador plans to pardon and commute thousands of sentences in order to free up space in the country’s prisons following a deadly riot at a penitentiary in the coastal city of Guayaquil this week.
The Director of Ecuador’s prison agency, Bolivar Garzon, said on Friday that up to 2,000 inmates, including elderly people, women and those with disabilities and terminal illnesses, would be prioritized on the pardon list for release and foreign nationals will be deported.
Investigations are still ongoing at the penitentiary, after violent clashes between rival gangs at the high-security facility left 118 inmates dead and dozens wounded on Tuesday.
According to Ecuadorian police those killed suffered from injuries resulting from bullets and grenades.
