JAKARTA. The Law and Human Rights Ministry’s director general of penitentiaries, Handoyo Sudrajat, said the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was to be blamed for the release of tycoon Siti Hartati Murdaya from prison.

Handoyo said that his directorate had written to the KPK asking for a recommendation on whether to grant Hartati parole, but the KPK’s response arrived too late.

“We abided by the rules. We gave the KPK 12 days to respond, but they answered only after 12 days,” Handoyo said as quoted by kompas.com.

Handoyo said that he had sent the letter to the KPK on June 30 but the ministry received the commission’s reply on July 16.

“Had the KPK said ‘no’, of course we would not have released her,” he said.

Last week, Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsudin said that Hartati had been released from prison as she met all the requirements for parole.

Amir said Hartati deserved to be granted parole as she had served two-thirds of her prison term, paid the court-ordered fines and behaved well while in prison.

The Jakarta Corruption Court found Hartati, a businesswoman and benefactor of the Democratic Party, guilty of bribery and sentenced her to two years and eight months in prison in Feb. 2013.

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie