Conditional release initially playing a part (6)
I believe the answer is:
parole
'conditional release' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'initially playing a part' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'part' becomes 'role' ('role' can be a synonym of 'part'**).
The first letter of 'playing' is 'p'.
'p'+'a'+'role'='PAROLE'
(Other definitions for parole that I've seen before include "Promise of not escaping etc" , "Conditionally release" , "Temporary release (of a prisoner)" , "Release of prisoner promising good behaviour" , "Word - condition of liberty" .)