13:38 | Iquitos (Loreto region), May. 17.
Peruvian Prime Minister Vicente Zeballos on Sunday called on Parliament to make critical issues a priority in the legislative agenda, while regretting that Congress has shelved the legislative initiatives to reduce overcrowding in prisons during a plenary session.
He said the Executive Branch had asked special powers to legislate on this issue as well, but they were not granted to allow special pardons, which is why it submitted a bill to address the prison population without a final sentence, that is, some 30,000 inmates.
The Cabinet chief noted that, in addition to the Executive Branch's legal initiative, the Judiciary presented another proposal, which included measures to reduce overcrowding in prisons in the face of the coronavirus emergency.
"I regret that neither a majority nor a minority opinion has been approved. I regret this because it does not contribute to reducing overcrowding in prisons," he expressed.
Last night, the Congress plenary session shelved the opinion rendered by the Justice Commission, which gathered the bills presented by the Executive and Judicial Branches, plus exceptional measures in order to reduce overcrowding in prisons, as well as the minority opinion.
Published: 5/17/2020