Former Riau governor and graft convict Annas Maamun has been discharged from the Sukamiskin penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, following clemency granted by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo last year.
” Annas Maamun was released on Sept. 21, 2020,” Law and Person Rights Ministry Corrections Directorate General representative Rika Aprianti said Tuesday.
The federal government released the clemency for Annas– who worked as governor in 2014– in October in 2015, reducing his sentence to 6 years of jail time from the preliminary seven years. With the clemency, he was qualified for parole in 2020, with an unconditional release in 2021.
Annas had actually been convicted of accepting more than Rp 1.5 billion (US$101,376) in kickbacks in a forest conversion case that triggered Rp 5 billion in state losses. The Bandung Corruption Court sentenced him to six years of imprisonment in2015 The Supreme Court increased his punishment to seven years in 2018 following a failed appeal.
Jokowi mentioned humanitarian reasons for giving the clemency as Annas, now 80 years of ages, stated in his plea that he was old and sick with declining health. In addition to his plea, Annas likewise supplied a declaration from a doctor saying that the found guilty was experiencing numerous persistent illnesses and anxiety.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) back in 2019 revealed its surprise over the clemency granted, considered that corruption in the forestry sector greatly affected the forests, the environment and the general public interest.
Antigraft activists lambasted the choice. Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said Jokowi had harmed the public sense of justice with the clemency, which was “among lots of obstacles” in graft eradication efforts under his administration.
The other problems, according to ICW, are the revision of the KPK Law, a refusal to release a policy in lieu of law (Perppu) to reverse that very same law, and selecting controversial leaders to the KPK.
