“When it comes to the mitzva of Pidyan Shavuyim party does not matter.”
1) Would it apply to a Jewish serial killer who has been convicted of multiple counts of first degree murder after fair court proceedings? (This does not apply to Pollard but it brings up the question of whether we are obligated to spring every Jewish criminal from prison. My rav o”h was a prison chaplain for 25 years and he hated prisons.)
2) Does it apply when the person is not, in fact, in prison? (Pollard was released almost five years ago, one day before he was supposed to have been released.)