Indonesia to grant clemency for 500 child inmates

INDONESIA: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will give an amnesty to 500 child inmates across the country as a start to the government's larger plan to adopt a friendlier approach to underage offenders, the Jakarta Post reported here on Friday.

Speaking in a meeting with his ministers in the cabinet on Thursday, the President said that he had approved the proposal for the clemency from Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar, saying that child inmates should not be treated as adult convicts. "Remission, assimilation, clemency and conditional release for child inmates have been no difference to those for adult inmates. This is not right because the best place for children is with their families," the president said.

He added that there should be permanent solution and different policy from regular inmates.

President Yudhoyono had earlier expressed ambition for similar different approaches for other disadvantaged inmates, the elderly and disabled people.

The president instructed Coordinating Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono to quickly establish a special team. JAKARTA, Xinhua