Five Zambian adults and a one-year-old circumstantial convict of Chikwa village in Lumezi district have escaped a two-year and four months jail term in Malawi, after they were convicted for illegal settlement and cultivation in the neighboring country.

The five, who included three women and two men, were convicted on three counts of entering Kasungu National Park in Malawi, a protected area, where they are said to have illegally settled and started cultivating.

Eastern Province Minister Peter Phiri received the five pardoned Zambians who only served 19 days of their sentence before walking to freedom after Zambian authorities intervened in their predicament.