IO, Jakarta – Annas Maamun, former Governor of Riau imprisoned for corruption, has obtained a one-year remission of his sentence from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). “It is true that he has been granted a remission from the President, with the sentence reduced by a year from its original seven,” admitted the Head of PR of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights’ Directorate General of Corrections, Ade Kusmanto, on Tuesday (26/11/2019).
Annas was originally sentenced to seven years of imprisonment at cessation level at the Supreme Court, which is an additional one year from the sentence handed down by the Corruption Court of Bandung on 24 June 2015. He was validly and legitimately proven to have committed the crime of corruption in a land conversion case, for a palm coconut plantation in the Regency of Kuantan Singingi, Riau. He was proven to have received IDR 500 million from entrepreneur Gulat Medali Emas Manurung, who asked that Annas include him in the Letter of the Governor of Riau concerning a Revision of Forest Area Usage Plan, even though the land submitted for the conversion was not the plot recommended by the Joint Team for the purpose.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) stated “humanitarian reasons” was the justification for granting a remission – but in this case was unjustifiable. ICW researcher Kurnia Ramadhana stated that “humanitarian” as an indicator is not something that can be measured definitely. “Reduction of sentencing in any form and for whatever reason is unjustifiable. The President’s reasoning of “humanitarian causes” for issuing the remission is unjustifiable, as its indicators cannot be clearly measured,” he stated in a press conference held on Tuesday (26/11/2019).
Therefore, Kurnia said, President Jokowi’s decision to provide a remission to a convicted defendant in the corruption case must be challenged, as corruption is an extraordinary crime. “The convict recognized by the President is a former Regional Head mandated by the people to serve them as a Governor, but instead he betrayed their trust by becoming corrupt instead,” he said. “This is an outrage to the people’s sense of justice, as the ones who suffer most because of the crime of corruption is the citizens under his care at the time.” (des)