Muhammad Rullyandi (right) as legal counsel of Petitioners, consisting of graft convicts, explained the revision of his petition in the second hearing of the judicial review of Law on Correctional Institution on Monday (11/9) in the Plenary Hall of the Constitutional Court. Photo PR/Ifa.

The Constitutional Court (MK) held the second hearing of the judicial review of Law Number 12 Year 1995 on Correctional Institution, Monday (11/9). The Petitioners are a number of convicts from the Sukamiskin Prison, among them are former Minister of Religious Affairs Suryadharma Ali, Advocate Otto Cornelis Kaligis, former Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Chairman Irman Gusman, former Provincial Governor of West Papua of 2009-2014 Period Barnabas Suebu, and former Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Waryono Karno.

Represented by Muhammad Rullyandi, the Petitioners of case No. 54/PUU-XV/2017 Stated that within the Correctional Institution Law there are Pancasila values, legal certainty, anti-discrimination principle, as well as social change including the prison system. If the Correctional Institution Law is linked to human rights and the constitutional framework, it is believed that non-original doctrines have Pancasila as the spirit of their legal ideals.

"Thus, Pancasila becomes protector of the whole nation, and [within Pancasila] there are human rights values. So, we believe in the natural right of convicts who have all been sentenced and who meet The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoner, which means the right to remission is universal," explained Rullyandi before Constitutional Court Justice M. P. Sitompul, Aswanto, and I Dewa Gede Palguna.

Additionally, Rullyandi in his description reiterated that Article 14 paragraph (1) letter i of the Correctional Institution Law which states “Prisoners are entitled to: i. have a reduction in their term of imprisonment (remission)" may have multiple interpretations. He opined that, factually, the provision in the article was not applied to the Petitioners.

Therefore, the Petitioners through their petitum requested the Constitutional Court to declare Article 14 paragraph (1) letter i of the Correctional Institution Law contradictory to the 1945 Constitution. If such article was deemed necessary to maintain, remission shall be given without discrimination, so that the provision would apply to all inmates with good records, who have served six months of their criminal offense, and who were not sentenced to life imprisonment or death penalty.

Before ending the hearing, the Panel of Justices also approved additional evidence and revision from the Petitioners to be considered by the Court in the Consultative Meeting of the Justices when deciding the continuation of the case.

(Sri Pujianti/lul/Yuniar Widiastuti)