¡¡¡¡HANOI, Aug. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnam decided to grant special amnesty for prisoners on the occasion of Vietnam's National Day onSept. 2 due to the stability of the country's political and socio-economic situation as well as prisoners' good reeducation, said a state official.

¡¡¡¡During a press conference on Friday, chairman of Vietnamese State President's Office Nguyen Canh Dinh announced the decision of Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong on the special amnesty.

¡¡¡¡Under the decision, as many as 6,233 prisoners were granted amnesty. Two of the selected inmates were accused of special crimes against national security and 14 are foreigners.

¡¡¡¡To be eligible for the amnesty, prisoners must have paid all fines imposed by the court, abided by all prison regulations, and served at least one third of their sentence, or 10 years of a lifeimprisonment.

¡¡¡¡War veterans, family members of war martyrs, and others who have contributed to the national revolutionary cause are also eligible if they have served one quarter of their sentence, or at least 8 years of a life sentence.

¡¡¡¡The selection process included a vote among the prisoners themselves.

¡¡¡¡Vietnam has granted 16 times of amnesty since 1975 and as many as 35,259 prisoners had been selected for amnesty since 1995.

¡¡¡¡The prisoner amnesty takes place each year to mark the NationalDay. Enditem

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