Supreme Court Discounts Ferdy Sambo's Death Penalty to Life Imprisonment, Law Minister Responds

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Politic, Law, and Security Mahfud MD said he respected the Supreme Court's decision to annul Ferdy Sambo's death penalty to life imprisonment. The death penalty was decided in South Jakarta Court and later upheld by the High Court. However, the verdict has been annulled by the Supreme Court (SC).

Despite this fact, Minister Mahfud paid no mind to the verdict since he believed the two sentences are "practically the same".

"I have said before that in practice, Sambo's death penalty could turn into life imprisonment. Death penalty and life imprisonment are practically the same since both are sentences with letter, death and life, instead of numerical," said Mahfud MD in his statement on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.

In addition, Mahfud also mentioned that when Sambo has served his sentence for 10 years, the recently passed Criminal Code will enter into force. "According to the new Criminal Code, people serving the death penalty for 10 years that has not been executed, the sentence could be reduced to life imprisonment," he said.

Previously, the SC Head of Public Relations Sobandi said the Judges has decided on Sambo's cassation appeal. The court decided life imprisonment for Ferdy Sambo for premeditated murder and without the right to take action that disrupts the electronic system. Sobandi also revealed that 2 of the judges have presented a dissenting opinion.

Sambo's wife, Putri Candrawathi, and their family driver, Kuat Ma'ruf, also filed for cassation. The Supreme Court also remitted their verdicts.

M. JULNIS FIRMANSYAH

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