The tendency to award imprisonment has caused a variety of problems at correctional institutions
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia requires alternative sentencing beyond imprisonment, official from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Liberti Sitinjak stated through an official website on Friday.

"The tendency to award imprisonment has caused a variety of problems at correctional institutions," the official noted during a discussion on bolstering the officials' capacity in applying restorative justice and alternative sentencing for adult perpetrators.

The inclination to impose imprisonment leads to a new problem in the form of prison overcapacity, he pointed out.

According to Sitinjak, prison overcapacity can no longer be dealt with by building new prisons, with the most viable solution being to encourage alternative sentencing.

In addition, social research should not only be conducted on child perpetrators but also adults.

"This is a part of the humanitarian duty that should be realized in the near future," he remarked.

The goal is to handle classic problems, and although they cannot be completely eliminated, they can at least be reduced.

The implementation of restorative justice, in addition to restorative assistance and guidance, are deemed to be able to realize a resilient and growing Indonesia.

In general, the effort to realize restorative justice has not only become the agenda of the ministry but also of all law enforcement authorities in Indonesia.

Other law enforcement authorities, such as the National Police, the Attorney General's Office, and the Supreme Court, have started to implement restorative justice, Sitinjak stated.

Meanwhile, official from the National Police Pitra A. Ratulangi noted that the government had stipulated the type of cases that can be handled through the application of restorative justice.

These cases include the ones that do not cause anxiety or rejection by the public, do not trigger social conflict, and do not have the potential to divide the nation.

In addition, cases that do not have the elements of radicalism and separatism and do not involve repeat offenders based on the court's decision also fall into this category.

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Translator: M Zulfikar, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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