Surviving prisoners of tsunami may get released

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.