"I have not yet received it. So, I cannot make any comment on it," President Jokowi said.
Makassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said he has not yet received a clemency request from Antasari Azhar.

"I have not yet received it. So, I cannot make any comment on it," President Jokowi said at the Untia fishery port of Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Saturday.

The president stated that Antasari Azhar did invite him to attend a ceremony at his home on Saturday.

"Actually, Mr Antasari has invited me today but I cannot attend the event because my schedule for today was already prepared, and so I cannot honor the invitation," Jokowi informed.

Antasari was conditionally released on November 10, 2016, but is still required to report once a month to the Correctional Institute in Tangerang, Banten.

Antasaris lawyer Boyamin Saiman disclosed that his side had submitted a clemency request to the president through the Supreme Court on August 8, 2016.

"We have repeated our request because we had also submitted the same request in January 2015," his lawyer recalled.

Just before his client was to be freed conditionally, Boyamin checked about the clemency request at the Supreme Court. He was informed that the letter of request has been sent to the State Palace.

"If it is true, the president should normally answer within three months at the most," he underlined.

Antasari, a former chief of the anti-graft agency (KPK), was sentenced to 18 years in jail after the court found him guilty of murder of businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, the director of PT Rajawali Putra Banjaran, in February 2009

On September 6, 2011, Antasari filed a legal review request but it was rejected because the evidence he presented was not perceived to be correct.

Since he went to jail in 2010, Antasari received four and a half year worth of remission in sentence. The former KPK chairman will be completely free only in 2022.

He has now sought a pardon from the president. If granted, it will restore his civil rights. Till 2022, Antasar has no right to work at any company, has no civil rights, cannot borrow money from banks, cannot own a company or become manager at a company.

He also has not yet been given any political rights. Therefore, he cannot become a member of the House of Representatives (DPR), cannot be nominated as a regional head candidate and cannot be nominated as a minister or as attorney general.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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