REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- House Speaker Ade Komarudin has said he supports the government's recent decision to issue a Perppu (a government regulation made in lieu of law) on child protection.
"It is worth supporting," he said at the Parliament Building here Wednesday.
The House of Representatives (DPR) would only have two options which are to accept or reject it, he said with regard to it.
After studying it he considered it was worth supporting although the final decision will depend upon the political factions in the House, he said.
"With regard to Perppu, DPR may only support or reject it. We cannot give an opinion about it," he said.
The politician from the Golkar Party, one of the country's biggest political parties, said, whether or not it is accepted would depend upon the political party factions.
The discussion of the Perppu could not be integrated in the discussion on the draft law on prevention of sexual violence, which has now been included in the 2016 priorities of the National Legislation Program, he said.
"Perppu on rape will be discussed separately. Each Perppu is discussed separately and cannot be mixed up," he said.
President Joko Widodo on Wednesday signed Perppu Number 1 of 2016 on the second amendment of Law Number 23 of 2002 on Child Protection.
"This Perppu is aimed at dealing with an emergency situation caused by the increasing number of cases of sexual violence against children," he said at a press conference at the State Palace.
Perppu Number 1/2016 will regulate the increased sentence or additional sentence and other measures for perpetrators of sexual violence against children and in cases of child molestation, based upon certain conditions, he explained.
The increased sentence refers to an additional one-third of a sentence for criminal charges that attracts a death sentence, life imprisonment or a jail sentence, with the minimum punishment of 10 years and the maximum of 20 years.
"The additional sentence will include the announcement of the identities of the perpetrators, the imposition of castration by chemical method and installation of an electronic tracking device," the president observed.
President Joko Widodo hoped the additional regulations would leave judges with enough room to impose the heaviest penalty possible for the perpetrators as a deterrent.
"We hope this Perppu will have a deterrent effect on the perpetrators and will help reduce the cases of sexual crimes against children as these are extraordinary crimes," he underlined.
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