TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly asserted that prisoners who commit violations after getting an early release through assimilation and integration program amid the COVID-19 pandemic will be severely sanctioned.

He claimed he had instructed the ministry’s Directorate General of Correctional Affairs to coordinate with the police and prosecutors to oversee those prisoners.

“If they violate [the law] again, they will be put in solitary confinement. When they fully serve their sentence, they will be escorted to the police for a new crime,” said Yasonna via a written statement received in Jakarta, Monday, April 13.

According to him, some 35,000 prisoners who had served two-thirds of their sentences were granted early release through assimilation and integration to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons.

Out of the figure, ten inmates committed a violation after their release. “Some were arrested for stealing, drinking and violence, and drug cases,” Yasonna said.

He underlined that there was no reason to tolerate those who violated the law during the release. Rearresting them, he added, proved there was good coordination between the Directorate General of Correctional Affairs and other officials of law enforcement.

“Some people say the program fails and threatens national security. I think of the opposite. This is evidence that the coordination is running well,” he added.

Yasonna Laoly further stressed that the assimilation and integration program was carried out under humanitarian grounds given the overcrowded correctional facilities and prisons amid the pandemic.

ANTARA