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Vietnam's government plans to free 4,000 prisoners as part of an amnesty before the Lunar New Year holiday, locally known as Tet.
The Central Council for Amnesty Consultancy chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh held a conference to review the list on Sunday.
The panel will process the files of 4,000 inmates eligible for amnesty and submit them to President Tran Dai Quang for approval.
Those approved by the president will be released before the Tet holiday, which will last for seven days from January 26 to February 1 next year.
The amnesty reflects the humanitarian nature of the Vietnamese people and aims to encourage inmates to reform, the government said in a statement on Sunday.
Tet is the biggest holiday in Vietnam. The upcoming Year of the Rooster will begin on January 28.
Vietnam has freed 81,795 prisoners under amnesty since 2009.
Six months after the latest amnesty in 2015, only 83 ex-prisoners or 0.44 percent out of the total 18,500 committed crimes after they were released.
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