T

he Law and Human Rights Ministry cut the prison sentences of 154 Hindu inmates, including five foreign nationals, at the Kerobokan penitentiary in Bali on the Day of Silence (Nyepi), to mark the celebration of the Hindu New year.

Each of the five foreign inmates, all drug convicts, were granted one month of remission. The inmates are Dutch national Reindert Leopold, who is serving 8 years imprisonment, Malaysian Sargunan M. Supiah, who is serving 12 years, fellow Malaysian Gobinathan V. Loganathan, who is serving 13 years and 6 months, Russian Sergei Chernykh, who is serving 11 years, and his compatriot Alexander Simonov, who is serving 8 years of imprisonment.

Kerobokan prison warden Tonny Nainggolan said the inmates granted remission had shown good conduct during their time in the prison. Anther consideration for remission was active participation in prison events. Of the 154 inmates, 137 had already received the decree issued by the ministry, while the decree was impending for the others, Tonny said on Wednesday.

Two inmates could walk free immediately after receiving sentence cuts of 15 days on Wednesday. They are Made Rai Swastika and Putu Ariani.

To celebrate the Caka New Year, Kerobokan inmates also took part in an ogoh-ogoh (giant effigies) parade in the prison held one day before Nyepi.

“During Nyepi, we minimize the light in the prison. However, we cannot turn off the light completely for security reasons,” Tonny explained.