Tommy's remission illegal

Tommy's remission illegal

From Koran Tempo

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra has misinterpreted the definition of remission, or sentence reduction, in the case of Tommy Soeharto. His misinterpretation lies in the phrase "as of the date of detention" in Article 7 sub-article 1 of Presidential Decree No. 174/1999, which fully reads as follows: "The calculation of the length of the period in which the sentence is served as a basis on which the length of general remission is determined shall begin as from the date of detention up to the day on which the Proclamation of the Independence of the Republic of Indonesia is commemorated on Aug. 17."

The minister should have taken into consideration Article 4 of Presidential Decree No. 174/1999, which clearly states as follows: (1) The length of general remission shall be 1 (one) month for convicts and juvenile convicts who have already served from six months to 12 months of their sentence; and two more months for convicts and juveniles who have already served more than 12 months of their sentence.

As for special remission, this must be referred to Article 5. This article clearly states that remission shall be granted only to convicts, not suspects or defendants. Apart from being used in the case of convicts, the term "detention" is also used in the case of suspects and defendants.

So the phrase "as of the date of detention" in Article 7 sub- article 1 shall mean -- in Tommy Soeharto's case --: "as of the date of the detention of Tommy Soeharto as a convict (less than one week before Aug. 16)", and not to be calculated from the date of his detention as a suspect or a defendant.

Minister Yusril must account for this error, which clearly results from his failure to heed Presidential Decree No. 174/1999.

I'm not against the granting of remission for Tommy per se, but this is a legal matter which needs straightening out and must be properly dealt with. So, the remission granted (this year) to Tommy Soeharto must be rendered null and void.

ATILLA GRAZIANI SJAFEI, Bandung