JAKARTA: The Law and Human Rights Ministry has granted sentence
reductions for 6,491 convicts who celebrated Christmas on Tuesday.
The ministry said in a statement that the inmates were entitled to sentence reductions of between 15 and 60 days.
Among the convicts who received sentence reductions were two Australian
drug smugglers, Schapelle Leight Corby and Renae Lawrence of the Bali
Nine. I Gusti Ngurah Wiratna, Kerobokan Prison warden, where Corby has
been serving her jail term, said that the Australian national received
the sentence reduction for good behavior. Wiratna also said that Corby
was active in social and religious activities within the penitentiary.
The sentence cuts allowed 118 convicts to be released on Christmas Day.
The
ministry also said that the sentence reduction policy helped ease
overcrowding in prisons. “Eight out of 33 provinces are not dealing with
the problem of overcrowding, which are Yogyakarta, West Sulawesi, South
Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, Papua and West
Papua,” the ministry said.