Amelia Rahima Sari, Jakarta – Indonesia's Ministry of Law and Human Rights granted remission to hundreds of thousands of inmates during country's 80th Independence Day celebrations.

The Director General of Corrections at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Mashudi, said that both prisoners and juvenile detainees received sentence reductions.

"In this special moment, we also provide decade remission as a mark of respect for the significant commemoration of every 10 years of the independence of the Republic of Indonesia," Mashudi said during a speech at the Salemba Correctional Institution in Central Jakarta on Sunday, August 17, 2025.

He added that the remission and sentence reductions are not given automatically but as recognition for inmates who have actively participated in correctional rehabilitation programs.

"I congratulate the prisoners and juvenile detainees who have received remission or freedom today," Mashudi said.

The Director of Inmate Rehabilitation and Juvenile Detainees at the Directorate General of Corrections, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Yulius Sahruzah, provided details on the number of inmates and juvenile detainees receiving remission.

Yulius explained that 179,312 inmates received general remission (GR), including 175,395 for GR I and 3,917 for GR II, who were immediately released.

Meanwhile, 192,983 inmates received decade remission (DR). Of these, 182,857 received DR I, 4,186 received DR II and were immediately released, 5,626 received DR for imprisonment to substitute fines I, and 314 received DR for imprisonment to substitute fines II and were immediately released.

Combined, the total number of inmates receiving general and decade remission reached 372,295.

For juvenile detainees, 1,369 received general sentence reduction (GSR), with 1,336 receiving GSR I and 33 receiving GSR II and being immediately released.

Additionally, 1,361 juvenile detainees received decade sentence reduction (DSR), with 1,326 receiving DSR I and 35 receiving DSR II and being immediately released.

"With these sentence reductions, the state saved meal expenses for detainees amounting to Rp639,112,246,500 (Rp639.11 billion)," Yulius said.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2040521/372295-inmates-granted-remission-govt-saves-rp639-billion-on-meal