Govt to cease sentence cuts for corruption, terror convicts

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has agreed that the government should stop granting sentence remissions for corruption and terrorism convicts.

“The President has given his approval that in order to deter organized crime perpetrators especially for the crimes of corruption and terrorism, we need to stop granting them sentence remissions,” presidential aide for legal affairs Denny Indrayana said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

The Law and Human Rights Ministry has been criticized for handing out sentence reductions to corruption convicts, sometimes twice a year per convict. The ministry granted sentence reductions to 235 graft convicts over this year's Idul Fitri. Eight of them walked free as a result.

Earlier last month, 21 graft convicts were released after being granted sentence cuts to commemorate Indonesia’s Independence Day.

“We hope this policy will support our corruption elimination spirit,” Denny said.