APSN Banner

Merciful Prabowo

Source
Jakarta Post Editorial - December 20, 2024

Jakarta – Past Indonesian leaders have rarely used the presidential prerogative of giving amnesty, one of many powers that come with the job, but not President Prabowo Subianto. Barely two months into office, he has surprised the nation with his plan to give pardon to 44,000 inmates nationwide.

No names or details have been disclosed by Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas, who made the announcement after a cabinet meeting on Dec. 13, but he cited humanitarianism and rehabilitation as the main grounds for the decision to release the prisoners. Additionally, there is the bonus that their release will ease the notoriously overcrowded prisons in Indonesia.

Supratman said the list includes political prisoners, including some Papuan separatist rebels, those imprisoned for violating the cyberlaw while exercising free speech, many who are terminally ill, those who have HIV/AIDS, those needing special health treatment and many drug addicts who would undergo rehabilitation instead.

This is good news for Papua, where armed conflicts are ongoing, and for activists fighting to defend freedom of expression.

We are seeing a side of 73-year-old Prabowo that no one expected from a man who spent the majority of his professional life as a soldier, engaging in wars and conflicts that included killings. There have been allegations of his role in the kidnapping and disappearances of anti-government students and activists in the 1990s, and in the massive riots in Jakarta in 1998. These allegations were never proven in court, but they led to his dismissal from the Army in 1999, and they continue to haunt him to this day.

An amnesty plan of this scale is consistent with his earlier decision to transfer foreign prisoners convicted of drug trafficking to serve their remaining jail time in their country of origin.

This week saw the return of Mary Jane Veloso, a Philippine migrant worker, who was condemned to death and whose pardon request, the last reprieve available, had already been rejected by Prabowo's predecessor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. The decision to send her home in time to celebrate Christmas literally spares her life since the Philippines has long ago abolished capital punishment. It is now up to Manila to decide on her legal fate.

Also returning home this week are the last five Australian members of the "Bali Nine" drug traffickers in order for them to serve their remaining jail time there. Two of their colleagues who received the death sentence were already executed in 2015. Two others died in incarceration.

Indonesian officials have stressed that the decision on foreign inmates did not fall under the presidential amnesty, but under the prisoners' transfer scheme with the two countries.

Putting aside the legal differences, what is most startling is the spirit of mercy behind these decisions that could only come from the President.

Some legal experts have cautioned the lack of legal standing behind these decisions that were seemingly made on impulse. The prisoners' transfer arrangement was created after the agreements made separately between Prabowo and his Philippine and Australian counterparts. The announcement came from Manila and Canberra, catching officials in Jakarta by surprise.

The plan to give amnesty on such a large scale lacks legal footing, but Minister Supratman said that since Prabowo plans to make this a yearly practice, the government is now working on a bill to regulate the granting of amnesty, clemency, rehabilitation and abolition.

President Prabowo made the distinction of using his presidential prerogative for the right reason, instead of using it for political purposes.

Jokowi waived his amnesty giving power in 2015 by ordering the execution of all drug traffickers on death row as part of his populist declaration of "war on drugs". Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, froze all executions upon taking office in 2004, only to lift the ban shortly before his re-election in 2009 and again in 2014, although by then he was no longer running for office.

Prabowo has not revealed where he stands on capital punishment, but if he is as merciful as he has shown this past month, this country is in for a welcoming healing journey.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2024/12/20/merciful-prabowo.htm

Country