The commissioner of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Nurul Gufron, stated that the prerequisite of justice and the purpose of sentencing had to be taken into consideration in releasing convicts.
He emphasized that the cells for graft convicts were not overcrowded. Therefore, there was no reason whatsoever for releasing any graft convicts from prisons.
The statement was released in response to the plan of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to release a number of inmates, including graft convicts, as a preventive measure against COVID-19 outbreak in overcrowded correctional facilities.
KPK fully understand public concern about graft convicts, who not only violated the law but also deprived the rights of the people while committing their extraordinary crimes.
Nurul explained that his previous statement put an emphasis on the prerequisite of justice, which means that the government has to consider the fact that no graft convict has ever been put in any overcrowded prison, unlike common inmates. “It would not be fair if graft convicts receive the same treatment with other inmates who have stayed in overcrowded cells,” he argued.
In addition, he asserted that the purpose of the sentencing also had to be taken into consideration by the government in granting freedom to convicts. “No freedom should be granted without proper selection,” he said.
With regards to the issue of over-capacity correctional facilities, Nurul encouraged the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to make immediate improvement to the current correctional facility management. Nurul invited relevant parties to implement the action plan for improving the management of correctional facilities that has been devised together with KPK.
“We hope that the Ministry of Law and Human Rights takes serious action in reforming the management of correctional facilities. Because this way, we can also ensure that the rehabilitative goals in prison can be achieved, including in the current situation of Corona pandemic. Consequently, over capacity issues can be minimized and the mapping of inmates eligible and not eligible for release will be more measurable,” he concluded.
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