“The first thing is that we will work on addressing the overcapacity issue,” he informed in response to a question from ANTARA at the ministry's office here on Tuesday.
He noted that prison overcapacity is a well-known issue. He said that the Kutacane Correctional Facility can only accommodate 100 prisoners, however, it is currently housing around 368 inmates.
As part of efforts to address overcrowding at correctional facilities, drug addicts and substance abusers should be rehabilitated rather than criminalized, Andrianto said.
He added that the idea has been discussed with the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), the National Police, and the Attorney General's Office.
In addition, the government is conducting an assessment of approximately 19 thousand inmates, the majority of whom are drug addicts and abusers, for possible amnesty from President Prabowo Subianto.
“Hopefully, the amnesty from the President will significantly reduce the burden on the correctional system,” he said.
As another step, Minister Andrianto urged his team at the Directorate General of Corrections to be selective in accepting detainees from other ministries/agencies.
“They should be selective when receiving inmates. Unless they have already received a final legal decision, only then should we accept them,” he said.
Earlier, it was reported that dozens of inmates from the Class IIB Correctional Facility in Kutacane, Southeast Aceh, escaped on March 10, 2025.
Some of them have since been recaptured.
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Translator: Fath, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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