Pardoned Prisoners Get Re-Arrested Within Hours

Two Italian prisoners released under a national pardon celebrated their freedom with such gusto in a bar that they were back inside within five hours after getting into a fight with police.

Freed from Macomer jail under a nationwide pardon to relieve prison overcrowding, Massimiliano Formula and Raimondo Muntoni were arrested for punching police who asked to see their papers.

Convicted prisoners are being freed out of Italian jails under a pardon granted last week for up to 12,000 inmates who can have a maximum three years slashed off their sentences.

Prisoners convicted of some of the more serious crimes are excluded and any freed inmates who commit new offences within five years will see their pardon revoked.

As will likely be the case for the two prisoners, who are now awaiting a new trial for their arrests.

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