Overview

• Parliament approved on July 31 the release of 1,116 inmates under President Prabowo Subianto’s clemency plan, with further lists awaiting legislative sign-off.
• The clemencies include the abolition of Thomas Trikasih Lembong’s sugar import conviction and amnesty for Hasto Kristiyanto’s three-and-a-half-year bribery sentence while his conviction remains.
• Papuan independence activists and other prisoners convicted of non-violent political offenses are among those scheduled to leave custody next week.
• Prabowo is exercising his constitutional power to grant amnesty and abolition as a means to reduce chronic prison overcrowding and foster unity before August 17.
• Human rights advocates and anti-corruption experts caution that pardoning high-profile political figures may undermine judicial independence and ongoing graft-fighting efforts.