Minister says President preparing amnesty for 17 August

Minister of Immigration and Corrections Agus Andrianto has stated that President Prabowo Subianto is preparing to grant amnesty to prisoners on 17 August. “Hopefully there will be a second amnesty from the President. Information suggests that on 17 August there will be an amnesty for prisoners,” Agus said during a national tuberculosis screening kick-off event at Ngaseman Class IIA Prison on Nusakambangan Island, Cilacap, Central Java, on Monday. Agus urged inmates to participate properly in prison development and guidance programmes to be eligible for the amnesty. “I appeal to those currently serving sentences to follow the development and guidance process well. Hopefully, based on the officers’ assessment, you will have the opportunity to receive amnesty from the President,” he said. According to Agus, the amnesty is one of the government’s concrete efforts to address overcrowding in prisons and detention centres across Indonesia. “Hopefully the President, as I mentioned earlier, will grant amnesty in August to prisoners under the age of 35. However, they will not be released immediately but will instead join a reserve component so they become disciplined,” he said. In 2025, President Prabowo Subianto granted amnesty to 1,178 convicts. Amnesty is a presidential prerogative under Article 14 of the 1945 Constitution, granted with consideration from the House of Representatives. Agus also highlighted the issue of overcrowding in prisons and detention centres, which impacts inmates’ health, including the risk of tuberculosis transmission. The Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, is conducting a national tuberculosis screening programme across 532 prisons and detention centres nationwide, targeting 272,573 inmates.