Surviving prisoners of tsunami may get released

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The government could generously reward some 300 prisoners in Aceh who chose not to escape even though their prisons had been destroyed in last year's tsunami.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin said on Thursday that he had suggested that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono halve the sentences of both adult and juvenile prisoners in Aceh who survived the disaster but returned to the prisons.

The same reward may also be given to prisoners who reported their whereabouts to authorities after their prisons had been swept away by the giant Indian Ocean waves, Hamid said.

He added that they had conducted social and humanitarian activities when they were outside the prisons.

Many of the prisons in coastal towns in Aceh were destroyed by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

"The government really appreciates their honesty and integrity. They could have run away as we no longer have documents, which were swept away by the tsunami," Hamid said.

He was speaking to reporters after a limited Cabinet meeting on the issue, which was led by Susilo and attended by other top government officials including Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh, National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto.

According to Hamid, the remissions, if approved, would be given during a ceremony on Aug. 17 to mark Independence Day.

The government traditionally gives remissions to prisoners on Independence Day. Sentences are usually cut by several months, at the most.

A massive earthquake followed by deadly tidal waves on Dec. 26 devastated Aceh, claiming more than 129,000 lives, including many prisoners trapped inside their cells.

The tsunami also opened the way for the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group to clinch a peace agreement, expected to be signed on Aug. 15, in which the central government will offer amnesties to GAM members detained for rebellious activities. GAM members involved in ordinary crimes, however, will not be given amnesties.

In another development, Hamid also revealed that the President had ordered a team of ministers to review requests for presidential pardons from some 2,500 convicts. Some had filed for pardons in the 1990s during the Soeharto administration.

Most of those requesting presidential pardons are usually those handed death or life sentences involving high-profile criminal cases.

According to the revised law on presidential pardons, only convicts sentenced to more than two years' imprisonment are eligible to request a presidential pardon. In comparison, the previous 1953 law said that convicts sentenced to more than 15 days' imprisonment could request pardons.

"The President will decide (on the fate of 2,500 prisoners) soon," Hamid said.

In Thursday's meeting, the President decided not to pardon convicts involved in "very sadistic murder cases".

"We talked about presidential pardons involving sadistic murder. Both the government and the Supreme Court take the same stance, not to accept such requests," the minister said.

According to the Constitution, the president has the prerogative to grant a presidential pardon after considering opinions of the Supreme Court.