T

he Constitutional Court ruled in favor of a death-row inmate on Wednesday by deciding that a law that limits clemency appeals to within a year after a verdict is invalid.

“Article 7, paragraph 2 of the 2010 Clemency Law is not legally binding because it conflicts with the Constitution,” Constitutional Court chief justice, Arief Hidayat, said while reading the ruling on Wednesday.

Article 14, paragraph 1 of the Constitution gives the president total prerogative to grant clemency and does not mention a time limit for clemency appeals.

As such, Constitutional Court judge Suhartoyo said that any law limiting a convict’s right to appeal for clemency was “unconstitutional”.

The plaintiff, Suud Rusli, has been on death-row after being convicted of murdering PT Arena Sakti Bakti (Asaba) president director, Boedyharto Angsono, in a case that made headlines nationwide in 2003. Suud, who was a marine officer when the murder took place, was sentenced to death by the Jakarta Military Court in 2005 and had a clemency appeal rejected by then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2013 because of the aforementioned time limit clause.

Suud, an inmate at Porong prison in East Java, said he was relieved by the ruling but did not disclose whether he would file another clemency appeal. “I will discuss it with my lawyer,” he told reporters after the hearing.