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128 corruption convicts granted remissions
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Dozens of inmates at Kendari Penitentiary in Southeast Sulawesi throw hats into the air following an announcement that the government had granted them remissions on Independence Day on Aug. 17. (Antara/Jojon)
T
he government granted sentence reductions to 128 corruption convicts on Independence Day amid a controversial plan by the Justice and Human Rights Ministry to revise a 2012 government regulation to facilitate graft convicts in obtaining remissions.
On the 71st Indonesian Independence Day, the government granted remissions to 82,015 convicts across the country, which included 128 sentence cuts for corruption convicts and 17 terrorist convicts, Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said on Wednesday.
"They got remissions after they fulfilled the requirements, such as good behavior and participating in correctional programs," Yasonna said as quoted by Antara news agency, adding that the inmates had also served one-third of their prison terms.
Graft convicts to get sentence cuts included former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin and disgraced tax officer Gayus Halomoan Tambunan, who received five-month and six-month remissions, respectively, according to a report by kompas.com.
The ministry plans to revise a 2012 government regulation on remissions that would eliminate a stipulation that only graft, terrorist and drug convicts who acted as justice collaborators are eligible for remissions. If scrapped, those convicted of corruption, which is classified as an extraordinary crime along with acts of terrorism and drug trafficking, would need only to display good behavior and serve one-third of their prison terms to be eligible for sentence reductions. The plan has been met with criticism from the public and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which has lambasted the plan to give what it calls "red-carpet treatment" to embezzlers of state funds.
Yasonna said last week that the plan was aimed at stopping discrimination against inmates to be granted sentence cuts. He denied that it would facilitate embezzlers in getting remissions as correction supervision under the ministry would still impose tight requirements for convicts of the three extraordinary crimes. (rin)
