Jakarta – As an effective policy for combating corruption, Attorney General Basrief Arief supported government plans to impose a moratorium on granting remissions for individuals who had been found guilty and imprisoned for corruption.

"Corruption is a crime that must be eradicated because it carries such widespread negative impacts for the nation. It [the moratorium] will also serve as a lesson in order to diminish corruption," he said.

He added that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) was against remissions for corruption convicts. "We have charged them, but their prison sentences have been reduced because of the remissions," he said, as reported by tribunnews.com.

President Susilo Bambnag Yudhoyono previously agreed with a moratorium on remissions for corruption convicts, as well as terrorists. The moratorium has been deemed necessary, while the regulation on granting remissions was still being reviewed.

The decision came after public outcry over generous remissions that had been granted to several high-profile corruption convicts.