Deputy Minister: New KUHP Clause Not Created to Help Ferdy Sambo Escape Death Penalty

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights, Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, dismissed rumors that the clause on a 10-year death waiting period for the execution of death row inmates, as set forth in the new Criminal Code, was deliberately prepared to help Ferdy Sambo escape the death penalty. He emphasized that the thoughts behind and the construction of Article 100 of the Criminal Code have been around since more than a decade ago.

Omar said that in 2006 an article for the probation period for capital punishment was tested at the Constitutional Court (MK). At the time, five MK judges agreed to maintain the death penalty, while four agreed to abolish the death penalty.

In that decision, the Constitutional Court issued binding considerations or ratio decidendi (the rationale for the decision) that a death row inmate should be considered for a 10-year probation or delayed execution. Edward Omar stated that if a death row inmate behaves well, his/her sentence can be commuted to life imprisonment or temporary imprisonment.

"This is in accordance with the vision of the national Criminal Code which was passed on December 6, 2022 and then promulgated on January 2, 2023 with Law no. 1 of 2023," he said in an official statement on Wednesday, February 15.

On Monday, February 13, the South Jakarta District Court gave the death sentence to former head of the National Police's Professional and Security Division (Propam) Ferdy Sambo, ruling him guilty of orchestrating the murder of his aide Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat a.k.a. Brigadier J.

EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA

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