Illustrative image. (source: TASR)
President Zuzana Čaputová has pardoned two men serving long term jail sentences after they grew marijuana to help relieve pain caused by serious illnesses.
A 63-year-old man who suffers from several serious incurable diseases and grew marijuana to relieve his chronic pain but did not resell the substance had been sentenced to 11 years in prison and had his property was confiscated.
The president said it would be inhumane for him to remain in prison, due to his ill-health. He had already spent more than half of his sentence behind bars.
She also pardoned a 40-year-old man who was jailed for 10 years after he grew marijuana for seriously ill members of his family, noting that he did not sell any of it, had never committed any previous crimes, and was the sole breadwinner for a family with a one-year-old child. He had already served almost five years of his sentence.
The pardons come amid a wider debate on legislation and sentencing for drug-related offences. Sentences for possession of small quantities of marijuana can be harsher than for murder or corruption.
Some politicians have attacked the severity of some sentences. In May, the Trnava District Court jailed Josef Šipoš for 15 years and ordered the confiscation of his property for growing cannabis. He claimed it was for the production of ointments. The verdict is not final, and Šipoš has appealed, but the SaS and Progressive Slovakia parties have slammed it as an example of overly severe punishment for drug offences.
Some judges are of the same opinion, as evidenced by an unusual appeal to the Constitutional Court by Bratislava judge Jana Grendárová in late June questioning whether it is fair to jail people for up to 15 years even if they are not drug dealers.
