TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo has signed the government regulation in lieu of the law (Perpu) on chemical castration against Pedophile - stating that there is an urgency to immediately act to deal with sexual abuses against children, which is perceived by the government to be on the rise at an alarming rate.
"I have recently signed into law, Perpu No. 1 of 2016, which will supersede and act as a revision to Law No. 23/2002 on Child Protection," said President Jokowi at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 - before adding that the government has added sexual abuse against children to the list of extraordinary crimes, as it endangers the physical and mental health of the victims.
President Jokowi also said that the Perpu contains severe sanctions, including additional sentencing of at least 10 years of imprisonment and a maximum of 20 years, as well as life imprisonment, capital punishment, and alternative punishments, including the public announcement of the perpetrator's identity, chemical castration, and/or the mandatory fitting of an electronic tracking device. "Severe punishments like these, are aimed to create a deterrent effect in the hopes of reducing the incidence of child abuse in the future," he said.
The Minister for Law and Human Rights Affairs, Yasonna Laoly, said that the signed bill was to be sent to the House of Representatives (DPR) to be ratified.
Laoly said that the severe nature of the punishments meant that not all perpetrators would be charged with the same sentence, and judges would be given the prerogative to decide what sentence shall be handed to the perpetrator. "The judges will review the facts, and the most severe sentence will be given to those who have repeatedly committed the crime, and those who committed the crime with accomplices," he said.
Furthermore, Attorney General H.M Prasetyo said that the Attorney General's Office (AGO) will be ready to proceed and act in accordance with the Law, once it is ratified by the DPR. "Once the sentencing parameters have been agreed on, our prosecutors will be ready to examine each case to determine what sort of sentence should be given," he said.
ADITYA BUDIMAN
