After parliament approved the first stage of President Prabowo Subianto’s extensive  clemency plan, which reportedly aims to promote national solidarity, Indonesia has begun releasing hundreds of prisoners from prison, including those who have been found guilty of political crimes.
After House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad and law minister Supratman Andi Agtas announced late on Thursday that Subianto had signed a Presidential Decree granting amnesties, a group of 1, 178 prisoners were set to be released on Friday.
Subianto, the former son-in-law of Indonesian dictator Soeharto, surprised the country by declaring he planned to grant clemency to some 44, 000 inmates nationwide, the majority of whom were imprisoned for political reasons, in order to promote country unity barely two months after taking office in October.
Political prisoners, inmates with mental and chronic illnesses, older people, juveniles, and those found guilty of insulting or blasphemy will be prioritized in the pardons, according to law minister Agtas.
Famous former president Joko Widodo, including Hasto Kristiyanto, the head of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the only official opposition party in the country, were among those who were released on Friday.
Kristiyanto, a former ally of former president Widodo and a harsh critic, was given a three and a half year prison sentence last week for bribery in a scheme to fill the 2019 legislative seat.
Kristiyanto told a cheering crowd, “We must learn from this incident,” after being released from his cell at the anti-Corruption Commission’s detention center in South Jakarta on Friday evening. He had been detained there since February.
Agtas claimed that the parliament also approved a criminal case against former Widodo ally Tom Lembong, who had previously sided with him in the presidential election of 2024 to support his political rival Anies Baswedan.
Lembong allegedly misused his position as minister by refusing to grant sugar import permits, and he was given a sentence of more than four years in prison in July.
According to Agtas, “Both Krusiyanto and Lembong] have exhibited service to the country, and our top priority is to strengthen the country’s unity,”
Six West Papua independence activists from Indonesia, which are currently serving treason-related prison sentences, were also released.
Source: Aljazeera
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