Govt denies delaying executions<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman denied
\nallegations yesterday that it was inhumane for the government to
\nleave inmates on death row in jail for more than twenty years
\nbefore being executed.<\/p>\n
Oetojo said that the government does not postpone executions
\nbut that delays are often caused by the long clemency application
\nprocess as well as the health of those on death row.<\/p>\n
He said that in some cases postponed executions work in the
\nfavor of a prisoner, such as when their requests for clemency are
\ngranted in the meantime.<\/p>\n
\"Some prisoners facing the death penalty were finally given
\nclemency and freed after being in jail for years,\" Oetojo said,
\nobviously referring to two political prisoners who last month
\nwere released after serving 30 years in prison.<\/p>\n
The two were Soebandrio, a former foreign minister, and Omar
\nDhani, a former Air Force chief, both of whom were convicted of
\nsupporting the communist abortive coup in 1965.<\/p>\n
\"We never intend to delay cases dealing with capital
\npunishment. The process takes time,\" the minister said moments
\nafter attending a parliamentary hearing with members of
\nCommission III of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
In yesterday's hearing, both the minister and legislators
\nagreed that they would start discussing a draft on the country's
\ncorrectional institutions next month.<\/p>\n
Oetojo said that he first has to go to Beijing to attend an
\ninternational conference on corruption and other social ills in
\ndeveloped and developing nations.<\/p>\n
The execution issue surfaced last month when Oetojo said that
\na number of prisoners would soon be executed.<\/p>\n
Although he made no reference to any particular prisoner, it
\nis believed that the two are Bungkus and Marsudi, former members
\nof the elite presidential guard implicated in the kidnapping and
\nkilling of the army generals that followed the abortive coup of
\n1965. Both have been in jail for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n
His remarks prompted members of the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights and local as well as international non-governmental
\norganizations to comment that their incarceration was against
\nhumanitarian principles.<\/p>\n
When asked whether there was a possibility for Indonesia to
\nadopt the so called \"conditional release\" of political prisoners
\nwith a record of good conduct, as applied in China, Oetojo said
\nthat his ministry would first study the system and discuss it
\nwith the legislators in next month's hearing.<\/p>\n
He added, however, that the system is not common in any
\ncriminal code and that adopting it could weaken the country's
\ncriminal laws.(03)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-denies-delaying-executions-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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