Ouagadougou
– Burkina Faso president Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Thursday pardoned more
than 1 200 prisoners in a bid to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the poor
West African country.

“This remission of jail
sentences will affect 1 207 people who will receive help in reintegrating
themselves into society,” communications minister Remis Fulgance Dandjinou
told a news briefing.

The freed prisoners “were
chosen on the basis of their advanced age, their state of health and the
completion of half their sentence,” he said, stressing that no one
convicted of “acts of organised crime or terrorism” had been
released.

A total of 7 621 people are in
jail or held in detention in Burkina Faso, and authorities have already
suspended all prison visits.

Since two cases of Covid-19 were
detected in the country on 9 March, Burkina Faso has a total of 288 registered
cases and 16 deaths. Around 50 people have been declared recovered.

A curfew has been imposed across
the whole of the country and around a dozen towns where at least one case was
registered have been placed in quarantine.

Burkina Faso has also declared a
health emergency, banned gatherings of more than 50 people and closed its
borders, as well as markets, schools and places of worship.