The Ghana Prisons Service says juvenile offenders in detention do not fall within the category of offenders considered for presidential amnesties.

The service, in a release, said the conditions under which such persons can be released are stated in the Juvenile Justice Act and they can be let out on “orders of either the Minister of Interior or Social Welfare.”

“It is necessary for all to note that, juvenile and young offenders in the Senior Correctional Centre are not prisoners and so are administered under a different regime aimed at correcting their offending behavior,” the statement said.

The Prison Service’s comments follow publications calling for a pardon for inmates in juvenile detention centres, in a bid to avoid Covid-19 spread among them.

President Akufo-Addo, in March 2020, pardoned over 800 prisoners across the country in a bid to decongestant the facilities; sparking calls for same to be done in juvenile centres.

But the prisons service insists “Presidential amnesties are granted to defined categories of convicts in adult prisons upon recommendation by the Prisons Service Council.”

The service, however, stated that steps have been taken in the detention centres to help avert the spread of a possible outbreak.

“The general public is however assured that, protocols which are in consonance with the national protocols as regards the fight against Covid-19 have been activated to prevent the virus from entering the Centre,” the statement said.