GOVT CRITICIZED FOR REDUCING JAIL TERMS OF CORRUPTION CONVICTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 21 (ANTARA) - The government's decision to commute the jail terms of 583 persons convicted on corruption charges and letting 32 others walk free after being pardoned on the country's 67th Independence Day anniversary, has been criticized by the public, including an anti-graft commissioner and a university professor.          Gayur Tambunan, who has been sentenced for 30 years for taking a US$7 million bribe while he was a tax official, has received a four-month sentence cut, which includes a three month reduction on Independence Day and a one-month special remission owing to Id-ul Fitr.          "Such a decision needs to be properly reviewed in the future," Zulkarnaen, the deputy chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said on Sunday.          Legislator Bambang Soesatyo of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission III on Legal Affairs, and Prof. Norsanie Darlan of the University of Palangkaraya (Unpar) of Central Kalimantan also agreed with Zulkarnaen.          The government has been criticized for its policy of reducing jail terms of corruption convicts, as such a grant is not considered comparable with the actual crime committed by the convict.          What has also elicited a strong public reaction against the four-month cutback in Tambunan's sentence is the government taking such a step despite his attempted and briefly successful bid to escape prison.          Every year, the government grants two kinds of remissions to offenders who have served at least one-third of the duration of their total prison sentence. These include the general sentence reduction announced on Independence Day and the special sentence cutback granted on Idul-Fitr.          A convict can also get a six-month reprieve if he or she has spent more than six years in prison.          Reacting to this provision Zulkarnaen, said he hopes that law makers and the government will reconsider these regulations and amend existing laws relating to remissions for convicts.          Prof Darlan described the process as unfair and an exercise in self-defeat. ¿Corruption convicts deserve no remissions,¿ he said, adding that cutting jail terms in this manner will hardly discourage members of the public from indulging in corrupt practices.          He also accused the government of betraying the public¿s trust and faith in justice, adding that he was in favor of reducing jail sentences, but not for persons who have been convicted for corruption.          Expressing concern over the four-month sentence cut given to Tambunan, Soesatyo said that such a remission will have further implications.          "It will eliminate any discouraging effects of legal sanction related to committing crime. Therefore, one should not be surprised if individuals working at the directorate general of tax are motivated to embezzle taxes, because they will do so assuming that they will be punished leniently,¿ the outspoken legislator said.          He also stated his disappointment with the government for not wanting to classify tax embezzlement as an extraordinary crime that deserves the highest legal punishment possible.         "If Tambunan's sentence is remitted, then the Ministry of Law and Human Rights does not deserve its name, and I hope it is not approached by legal mafia for getting similar pardons in the future,¿ Soesatyo stressed.          Meanwhile, Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin was quoted by The Jakarta Globe on Monday saying that the Indonesian government plans to tighten regulations governing sentence cuts for corruption convicts before next year's Idul Fitr festival.         "The rationalization of remissions cannot be implemented yet, but 'inshallah' (God willing) it can be done next year," Syamsuddin stated.          Under current regulations, graft convicts become eligible for sentence cuts if they have served one-third of their sentence. However, the proposed changes will require them to serve at least half of their sentence, before they become eligible for reductions.          The minister also pointed out that granting general remission to inmates has been an annual tradition, regardless of the type of crime they have committed. Sentence cuts for corruption convicts are regulated through government regulation no. 28 / 2006, which is an amended version of government regulation no. 32/1999.          "The government is still in the process of revising government regulation no. 28 /2006. We are trying to harmonize it with other relevant parameters," Syamsuddin said.          This is why general and special remissions were distributed equally amongst all convicts on Independence Day and Idul Fitr this year. Corruption, narcotics and terrorist convicts received the same remissions, he added.          Sihabuddin, the Director General of the Correctional Institute also said that jail term cutbacks given this year were based on government regulation no. 28 /2006.          "We still use government regulation no. 28/2006, as the draft for an amended regulation has been submitted to the president," he said.           A total of 108,376 inmates received sentence reductions on the country¿s 67th Independence Day on August 17 and on the Id-ul Fitr holiday.          As of August 2012, a total of 153,246 persons, which include 50,275 prisoners and 102,971 inmates were locked up in jails and prisons across Indonesia. ***3*** (T.A014/INE/a014) (T.A014/A/KR-BSR/A/A014) 21-08-2012 17:08: