AFP, DAMASCUS: President Bashar al-Assad granted an amnesty yestreday for people in war-torn Syrian who have dodged service or defected from the army, state news agency SANA reported.
According to SANA, Assad issued a decree “which grants a general amnesty to those who defected and are still in or have fled Syria”.
The special decree is the second amnesty in just over a year. It stipulates that defectors who fled the country have two months to hand themselves in, while those still inside Syria have one month. There were no details given for draft dodgers.
The amnesty wipes away “the entire punishment for those who fled inside Syria, as explained in article 100 of the military penal code,” and “those who have fled the country (crossed the borders), as explained in article 101”.
The articles do not, however, refer to army members who joined the ranks of “the enemy,” or who used their weapons
against orders.