30,000 Prisoners in Indonesia Soon Freed Amid Threat of COVID-19
Indonesia is set to release about 30,000 prisoners early as the Southeast Asian nation seeks to avoid a possible surge in coronavirus infections.
According to the issued document by law and human rights minister reviewed by Reuters, adult prisoners would be eligible for parole if they were to served two-thirds of their sentences. Children would be also eligible if they served half of their jail term.
In a report of GMA News, Ministry spokesman Bambang Wiyono said on Tuesday the parole would encompass around 30,00 prisoners. On Tuesday, President Joko Widodo declared a national public health emergency to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populated nation. So far, the government has reported 1,414 infections and 122 deaths from the virus. However, experts believe that the scale of the outbreak was masked due to lack of testing.
Official data shows that there are 270,386 inmates across Indonesia, twice as the official capacity of its jails. This is because of the drug war that led to a surge as a locked-up person. Many have also been deprived of improper hygiene, making prisoners in particular vulnerable to illness.
The executive director of the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR), Erasmus Napitupulu welcomed the parole but urged the government to widen it to include more prisoners. Meanwhile, other countries including Iran and the United States have also released prisoners early to prevent the spread of coronavirus in jails.
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