Hundreds Of Prisoners Breathe Free Air After Receiving Remission

Illustration (Photo: Emiliano Bar / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Through the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham), the government has provided a reduction in the sentence or the right to Special Remission (RK) on Eid Al-Fitr in 2020 to 105,325 Muslim prisoners and children throughout Indonesia.

Of these, 104,960 people received RK I or a partial reduction in detention and 365 people received RK II or were immediately released.

The Director General of Corrections, Reynhard Silitonga, said that this remission should not only be considered because the state grants the rights of prisoners. Because this remission was not given carelessly.

"Giving remissions is not only an implementation of the granting of rights given by the state but is also an appreciation given by the state to inmates who have succeeded in showing changes in behavior and improving their quality while in prison or remand center," Reynhard said in a written statement as quoted by VOI on Sunday. , 24 May.

He hopes that in the future, it is hoped that this remission can be used as motivation for the inmates. "Do not let (inmates) repeat the same mistakes when returning to society. Be a virtuous and law-abiding person," he said.

Director of Prisoner Development and Production Work Training, Yunaedi, then revealed that the largest number of revised recipients came from the North Sumatra region with 13,077 people. Furthermore, West Java with 11,582 people and East Java with 11,530 people.

It is also confirmed that the remission will be given quickly and transparently through the Correctional Database System. Yunaedi also ensured that there were no illegal charges in granting this remission right.

"There are no illegal fees because (remission) is done online via SDP with high data accuracy," he said.

Yunaedi also explained that the remission this time actually saved the prisoners' food budget up to Rp. 53,093,040,000 from the average food budget of Rp. 17 thousand per day per person.

Despite the provision of remissions, to date the total number of assisted residents throughout Indonesia as of May 17 has reached 232,222 people consisting of 176,983 prisoners and 55,239 detainees. Of these, there are 171,659 people who are Muslims.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights through the ranks of Corrections is trying to take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.

The steps that have been taken include postponing the admission of new prisoners, limiting visiting and hearing services through video conference media and granting assimilation and integration rights to 38 thousand prisoners and children.