Indonesia Frees Hundreds of Prisoners on Idul Fitri

Jakarta Globe, SP/Novianti Setuningsih, Jul 28, 2014

Prisoners greet ward officials in celebration of Idul Fitri at the Cipinang
 Detention Center in East Jakarta on July 28, 2014. (Antara Photo/Vitalis
Yogi Trisna)

Jakarta.  Hundreds of prisoners across Indonesia were freed on Monday, the start of the Idul Fitri celebration this year, following a massive sentence reduction granted by the government as it sought to reduce overcrowding at jail facilities.

Justice and Human Rights Ministry spokesman Akbar Hadi said the government had granted an Idul Fitri reduced sentences for 56,704 Muslim prisoners, 820 of which were allowed to walk free on Idul Fitri.

“As many as 55,884 prisoners and juvenile detainees were handed a special remission but remain in jail,” Akbar said.

He said that of those, 15,958 had their sentences reduced by 15 days, 35,534 received a one-month sentence reduction, 3,471 received a one-month and 15-day sentence cut, while another 921 prisoners received a two-month sentence cut, Akbar said. He added that a majority of the prisoners who received the reduced time were located in West Java.

According to Akbar, a total of 165,731 prisoners live in 463 detention centers and prisons across Indonesia, indication that overcapacity was 152 percent. Such facilities were built to house only 109,231 detainees.

Some of the prisons and detention centers suffering from overcapacity are located in Yogyakarta, Maluku, North Maluku, Papua, West Papua, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi.

“The sentence cut, aside from motivating the prisoners to behave well and actively join training programs at the prisons and detention centers, also aims to decrease the impact of overcapactiy,” he said.