More than 400 prisoners were released from Sri Lankan prisons on a presidential pardon on Tuesday with the intention of minimizing congestion within prisons, the Prisons Department said.

Commissioner General of Prisons Thushara Upuldeniya said 444 inmates including 18 females received the special presidential pardon and they were all above 65 years old.

These prisoners had been convicted of minor offenses for failing to pay fines and had served half their sentence.

“Those inmates who were convicted of murder, theft, rape, child abuse and other serious crimes were not granted the Presidential pardon under any circumstances,” Upuldeniya said.

Sri Lanka’s prisons are highly congested, with the government recently saying that there were more than 26,000 inmates while the normal capacity does not exceed 10,000.