Prabowo Forgiving Corruptors, Yusril: For The Recovery Of State Assets

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, gave a response regarding President Prabowo Subianto's statement regarding the proposal to forgive corruptors as long as they return the money from corruption.

"He means well, how to make people aware of their behavioral mistakes. The most important thing is asset recovery or returning the state money they stole. That is actually the main target," said Yusril on December 20.

According to Yusril, President Prabowo's discourse is a systematic step to solve corruption problems that have long burdened the community.

He considered that efforts to eradicate corruption had not yet provided satisfactory results, with the Indonesian Corruption Perception Index which tended to worsen.

Yusril emphasized that the recovery of stolen state assets should be a top priority, accompanied by improvements to a more effective and efficient law enforcement system. "A new approach is needed to solve this corruption problem. Since Indonesia ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UN Convention Against Corruption) in 2006, the rules on corruption should emphasize the recovery of assets and awareness of perpetrators, not just the deterrent or punishment effect," he explained.

Yusril also explained the legal mechanism that can be taken. According to him, the President has the authority to grant amnesty and abolition in accordance with the 1945 Constitution.

Amnesty can be given to perpetrators who have served their sentences, while subscriptions can be applied to those who are still in the legal process, as long as they are willing to return the state's losses.

He referred to previous experiences, such as amnesty for political prisoners in the era of President Habibie and abolition for members of the Free Aceh Movement during the time of President Gus Dur. In the context of this discourse, perpetrators of corruption who return state money can be forgiven to accelerate asset recovery.

Yusril added that the presidential decree regarding amnesty and abolition could be a concrete step in realizing the idea. He also appreciated President Prabowo's communication style which he considered effective.

"Mr. Prabowo's language, like 'who will repent and return the stolen goods will be forgiven,' is a simple and effective way to convey messages to the public," he said.