Legislator bemoans appalling conditions in country's prisons<\/p>\n
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar<\/p>\n
A senior legislator revealed on Monday that 80 percent of the
\npenitentiaries in the country, including those in Bali, were
\ncurrently way over capacity.<\/p>\n
"Most are between 40 percent and 300 percent over capacity. In
\none prison, with a capacity of 300 people, it is filled with 800
\ninmates," said Akil Mochtar during his working visit to Bali.<\/p>\n
During the visit, Akil and 13 other legislators from the House
\nof Representatives (DPR) went to Kerobokan Penitentiary in
\nDenpasar.<\/p>\n
The legislators from Commission III on security, legal and
\nhuman rights affairs earlier visited others nationwide, including
\nin East Java, Jakarta, North Sumatra, Palembang, Batam, Riau and
\nEast Kalimantan. Of all the penitentiaries, those with the worst
\nconditions were in Jakarta, East Java, Riau and Batam, he said.<\/p>\n
The overcrowded conditions had created extra problems for the
\nprison management and the government, said Akil. As the number of
\ninmates far outnumbered capacity, the government had to spend
\nmuch more money on food for all the inmates, Akil argued.<\/p>\n
According to the legislator, in the past six months, the
\ngovernment had not paid its debts of over Rp 80 billion to the
\nprivate companies that supply meals for the hundreds of
\npenitentiaries nationwide.<\/p>\n
"If the private companies stop supplying food to the
\npenitentiaries as the government fails to pay its debts, it would
\nthen create another problem," explained Akil.<\/p>\n
He said that actually, the funds to cover the meal expenses
\nfor the inmates had been allocated by the government in the state
\nbudget, but it was not clear why the money had not been disbursed
\nyet.<\/p>\n
Akil urged the central government to add more money to the
\nbudget allocation for prison management so that in the future,
\nthe inmates could be treated with dignity. Some of the money
\ncould also be used to build more prisons across the country,
\nsuggested Akil.<\/p>\n
The overcrowded conditions have been blamed for the escape of
\nmany inmates in recent years. The situation was discussed
\nnationwide after 52 convicts escaped by sawing through the bars
\nof their cells in a detention center in Batam, Riau province in
\nSeptember two years ago. Some have been recaptured, but many are
\nstill at large.<\/p>\n
A similar case was reported a year later when 31 adult
\ninmates, who were being kept temporarily at a juvenile detention
\ncenter in Medan, escaped, raising public concern over poor
\nsecurity and overcrowding in prisons. Three of them, however,
\nwere reportedly recaptured a few hours after the escape.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/legislator-bemoans-appalling-conditions-in-countrys-prisons-1447893297",
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