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No more prison for drug users, Supreme Court tells judges
The Supreme Court has ordered judges not to send drug addicts to prison any more, instead they should be put in rehabilitation centers
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The Supreme Court has ordered judges not to send drug addicts to prison any more, instead they should be put in rehabilitation centers.
The nation’s top court also issued an edict that the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) make clear deadlines for death-row convicts to make appeals, to reduce uncertainties.
The court issued a circular on Friday ordering judges to send convicted drug addicts to rehabilitation centers instead of prisons.
“Sending drug addicts to prison is not the right step because that means we will have ignored their treatment and healing process,” Supreme Court spokesman Nurhadi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Besides, he said the issuing of the circular took into consideration the conditions of overcrowded prisons across the country, and that detention facilities did not support healing treatment for drugs users.
“Their condition will get worse when they have to mingle together with other drug addicts and the conditions in state penitentiaries and detention facilities do not suit their healing process,” Nurhadi said.
“That’s why we expect judges to send them to rehabilitation centers as stipulated in Article 41 and 47 of the 1997 law on narcotics and psychotropics.
The law allows judges not to convict drugs addicts but instead to order them to get treatment at rehabilitation centers.
Supreme Court chief justice Harifin A. Tumpa also said his office has issued an edict on how to manage convicts who are on death row.
The edict was issued on March 17, 2009 in response to a proposal submitted by the AGO on Feb. 23.
“The edict stipulates that the AGO can determine an appropriate period of time for death-row convicts to file requests for case reviews,” Harifin was quoted as saying on Friday by Antara news agency.
He said no law was in place to regulate the time limit for death-row convicts to request their cases be reviewed and to seek presidential clemency.
This mean’t there was no certain legal framework for convicts on death row. Harifin added.
“The determination of the appropriate time will refer to Article 69 of the 1985 law on the Supreme Court,” he said.
This article, he added, gives 180 days as the time limit for justice seekers to file a case review.
The chief justice said the edict also ordered the AGO to be strict and inform any death-row convict in the case of the implementation of a death sentence. “If they do not file a case review then the execution can be carried out after 180 days (from their conviction) ,” he said.
