Anita Rachman & Dessy Sagita, Jakarta – Lawmakers are expected to discuss banning prisoners convicted of corruption from receiving sentence cuts or presidential pardons, or tightening the system.
The move comes in response to public outrage over the sentence reductions given to several corrupt officials last week.
Tjatur Sapto Edy, deputy chairman of House of Representatives Commission III dealing with legal affairs, told the Jakarta Globe the law clearly regarded corruption as a serious offense warranting severe punishment. This, he said, was undermined by awarding perpetrators sentence cuts, assimilation periods, leave passes and parole.
"I think it is important to review remissions, assimilations and parole regulations," said the lawmaker, who is also head of the National Mandate Party (PAN) in the House. "We should consider a total end to remissions et cetera, like China has done."
The public outcry followed the release of several high-profile corruption convicts after they received sentence cuts to mark Independence Day on Aug. 17.
One of the convicts, Aulia Pohan, a former deputy governor of Bank Indonesia and an in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was released on parole after receiving a total of nine months in sentence cuts, meaning he served less than two years of his three-year sentence.
Businesswoman Artalyta Suryani, jailed for bribery, was granted a sentence cut for "good conduct" despite having been found to be enjoying many comforts and luxuries in her jail cell.
Critics said the sentence cuts raised doubts about the government's commitment to battling graft. They demanded that the system for granting sentence reductions be made transparent.
Emerson Yuntho, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, called for a standardized remission process. He said ICW research showed remissions were easily manipulated and had great potential for bribery and graft.
Commission III member Nudirman Munir, from the Golkar Party, wants the system to be tightly regulated.
Nudirman, who wants to see the death penalty for corruption, said the House should urge the government to set up an independent body to review any clemency granted by the president.
"The public should know who is asking for clemency, and this body should then review these people's records," he said.
However, Commission III member Ahmad Yani, from the United Development Party (PPP), said he disagreed with stopping graft convicts from getting reduced sentences. "As long as the system is weak, getting rid of remissions will not deter people."
Activists from pro-democracy group Petisi 28 said they would file a protest to the president through Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar today. Group coordinator Haris Rusli Muchti said clemency for graft convicts insulted all Indonesians. "It makes Indonesians look stupid, as if we are totally blind to legal matters," he said.
Petisi 28 lawyer Ahmad Suryono called the system "unfair" and showed Yudhoyono's inconsistency, while his colleague Catur Agus Saptono questioned the reasons for granting a sentence cut to Artalyta.
"She has been proven as a corruptor protector. She has been linked with many names, and a task force found she was enjoying very special treatment in prison, so it was surprising she was granted a remission," he said.