Coordinating Minister Yusril: The Death Penalty Is Not Abolished, But Is Special And Careful

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections (Kumham Imipas) Yusril Ihza Mahendra emphasized that the death penalty in Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code (KUHP) was not abolished.

However, said Yusril Ihza Mahendra, he was placed as a special criminal sanction and was imposed and carried out very carefully.

"After all, judges and the government are ordinary people who could be wrong in deciding," said Yusril as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, April 9.

Yusril explained that the precautionary approach came from respecting the right to life as a gift from God Almighty.

Therefore, the death penalty is only imposed for certain serious crimes and should not be carried out without in-depth consideration.

According to him, if an error occurs in imposing and carrying out the death penalty, the consequences cannot be corrected. The reason is, it is impossible for people who have been sentenced to death to be revived so that caution is an absolute principle.

In the latest Criminal Code, Yusril said the death penalty was not immediately carried out after the court's decision, but could only be executed after the request for clemency for the convict was rejected by the President.

Thus, clemency requests for the imposition of the death penalty must be carried out, both by the convict, his family, and his legal advisers, in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP).

Yusril said Articles 99 and 100 of Law no. 1/2023 concerning the Criminal Code provides space for judges to impose the death penalty with a probationary period of 10 years.

"If during that period the convict shows regret and behavior change, the President can turn the death penalty into life imprisonment," said Yusril.

In addition, Coordinating Minister Yusril explained that prosecutors are also required by the Criminal Code to file a demand for the death penalty accompanied by alternative punishments of other types, such as life sentences, for consideration by the panel of judges.

Yusril did not deny that the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) must draft a law on the Procedures for the Implementation of the Death Penalty as mandated in Article 102 of the latest Criminal Code.

However, in substance, the provisions regarding the death penalty as a special punishment have been formulated firmly in Article 64 letter c and the latest Articles 67 and 68 of the Criminal Code.

Regarding the debate surrounding human rights, Yusril stated that the attitude towards the death penalty really depends on a philosophical interpretation of the right to life.

Some religions in the past, according to Yusril, may justify the death penalty based on these doctrines and religious laws. However, in today's theological developments, there are also new interpretations that reject the death penalty.

The latest Criminal Code, continued Yusril, takes a middle ground between various approaches. The death penalty is known in Islamic law, customary criminal law, and in the Dutch heritage Criminal Code.

The Coordinating Minister respects the living law in society.

Therefore, his party did not remove it, but formulated the death penalty as a last resort, which was carried out with full caution.