1,422 criminals regain their freedom this year

1,422 criminals regain their freedom this year

JAKARTA (JP): The 49th anniversary of Indonesia's Independence
Day yesterday saw 1,422 convicts walk to freedom. While for
15,379 others, the day brought them one step closer to a return
to society.

President Soeharto, as has been his tradition on Independence
Day, granted remissions ranging from between one to six months to
convicts who behaved themselves for the past year.

A total of 16,801 convicts qualified for remissions this year,
including some political prisoners, according to the Antara news
agency.

Convicts who are serving life terms do not qualify. Those who
violated regulations while serving their jail terms are also
disqualified.

East Timor rebel leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, who is
serving a 20-year jail term in Jakarta, did not qualify
apparently because he smuggled out a letter to the Portuguese
government and the International Jurists Commission last
December. Xanana's life sentence had been reduced to 20 years
last year by a presidential order.

"Xanana was not proposed for remission this year, because his
name was recorded in the Letter F book," head of the Jakarta
office of the Ministry of Justice, Mohammad C. Alamsyah Boer said
last Saturday. The Letter F book is a standard book in every
penitentiary to record disciplinary violations committed by the
inmates.

Remissions are granted to those serving more than six months.
The amount of remission increases each year from one month to a
maximum of six months. (02)