Jokowi Signs Castration, Heavier Sentencing for Child Sex Offenders
Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has signed a government regulation in lieu of law, or perppu, to amend a 2002 law on child protection, adding an article of chemical castration as punishment.
“The law is designed to address the urgency caused by sexual crimes against children, which have increased significantly,” Jokowi said in a press conference on Wednesday (25/05).
Sexual offenses against children is considered an extraordinary crime which endangers the wellbeing of children and disturbs public order and safety.
According to the bill, sexual offenders will be chemically castrated and must wear electronic detection gadgets set to observe their movements following their release from prison.
Jokowi also heightened the punishments, providing options for the death penalty, life imprisonment, as well as a minimum of 10 years or a maximum of 20 years in prison.
“Extraordinary crime requires extraordinary management,” he said, adding the option may provide room for judges to impose the heaviest of punishments. “We hope for this regulation to impose deterrent effect to perpetrators and reducing sexual offenses against children."
Additionally, Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly added that the heightened punishments would be served to perpetrators who should have been guardians of the victims, as also applied to one or more suspects in a case, as well as causing severe impacts such as injuries, mental disorders and death.
"So, it is not [just] a castration law," said Yasonna in a statement.
The call for harsher sentences come after a string of high profile sex crimes and murders of children across the archipelago.
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