Life can be meaningful even behind prison bars<\/p>\n
By Imanuddin<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Being an inmate of a penitentiary does not, as
\none would imagine, mean the end of the world. Several criminals
\nof the Salemba detention center and the Cipinang penitentiary
\nhave proved that being imprisoned can also be meaningful.<\/p>\n
Towil Heryoto, former president of the state-owned Bank
\nPembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo) who is serving his eight years of
\nimprisonment at the Salemba detention center, said on Friday that
\nhe has spent most of his three months in prison writing books.<\/p>\n
Towil and four other former Bapindo executives were implicated
\nin the Rp 1.3 trillion ($620 million) scandal at Bapindo. They
\nwere all found guilty of colluding with and aiding businessman
\nEddy Tansil in siphoning off large sums of funds from the bank.<\/p>\n
He told reporters after performing the Idul Fitri prayer in
\nthe prison's exercise yard that he had completed two books, one
\non the saving system for houses and the other on his experience
\nduring the investigation of the huge loan scandal.<\/p>\n
The two books are ready for publication, he said.<\/p>\n
\"I am now writing another book on the housing loan system,\"
\nsaid Towil, who is also former president of the government-owned
\nBank Tabungan Negara.<\/p>\n
He said that he has also learnt to understand the lives of
\naverage people during his term in prison.<\/p>\n
Sjahrizal, another former Bapindo executive who is housed in
\nthe same block of the detention center, declined to give any
\ninsight into his activities in the prison.<\/p>\n
Sjahrizal, who seemed to have gained weight, said after the
\nIdul Fitri prayer that he has only read books and done light
\nsports during his three months there.<\/p>\n
Both Towil and Sjahrizal said that they are resigned to their
\nfate of spending time in jail.<\/p>\n
A number of criminals in the Cipinang penitentiary, where
\npolitical and hard core criminals are kept, also expressed
\nsimilar attitudes.<\/p>\n
Ridwan Binti Sari, who is serving an 11 year term for his role
\nin the 1989 peace-disturbing movement in Lampung, said that he
\nspends most of the time teaching and propagating Islam among
\nfellow criminals.<\/p>\n
\"I, together with four of my colleagues, help each other in
\npropagating Islam here,\" he told reporters before the Friday
\nprayer at the prison's mosque.<\/p>\n
\"It is more valuable than only thinking over the court's
\nverdict which I consider unfair,\" he added.<\/p>\n
A. Latief, 70, a former Army Colonel at the Infantry Brigade
\nof the Jakarta Military Command, who has been imprisoned for
\nalmost 30 years for his participation in the 1965 Communist party
\ncoup attempt, said that he spends all of his time reading books
\nand newspapers as well as learning and understanding Islam.<\/p>\n
Latief was given the death sentence by Mahmilub, the special
\ncourt for members of the Armed Forces or the Communist party
\ninvolved in the 1965 coup attempt.<\/p>\n
Nuku Sulaiman, a human rights activist who was convicted to
\nfour years imprisonment, said that it would be energy-consuming
\nto only think of the court's verdict on his inconceivable conduct
\nat the end of 1993.<\/p>\n
Nuku, chairman of the Pijar Foundation, was found guilty of
\ndistributing stickers that defamed President Soeharto during a
\ndemonstration at the House of Representatives in November 1993.
\nThe stickers suggested that President Soeharto was to blame for
\nthe various natural and man-made calamities which had occurred in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"I read newspapers and books to monitor and keep up with world
\ndevelopments and mingle with other inmates to broaden my social
\nvision,\" said Nuku.<\/p>\n
The reporters, who covered inmates' activities on the first
\nday of the Idul Fitri festivities, missed out on seeing Harnoko
\nDewantono, alias Oki, 30, detained for passport forgery and for
\nhis alleged role in the triple murder in Los Angeles. Oki was
\ntransferred to the prison on Thursday from the Jakarta Police
\nheadquarters' prison.<\/p>\n
Oki will soon be tried at the South Jakarta District Court for
\npassport forgery.<\/p>\n
Ruhut Sitompoel, one of Oki's lawyers, told the reporters that
\nnobody except Oki's parents are allowed to see his client. Ruhut
\nhimself is also barred from seeing Oki.<\/p>\n
H. Dani, Oki's other lawyer from the Amir Syamsuddin &
\nAssociates Law Office, who came later with two of Oki's
\nrelatives, were not allowed to see Oki either.<\/p>\n
The solemnity of the Idul Fitri ceremony at the Salemba prison
\non Friday was colored by an incident when a resident of Kebon
\nJeruk subdistrict in West Jakarta, identified as Fahmi Thalib,
\ntried to smuggle dried hemp and drugs into the prison.<\/p>\n
Fahmi, who was about to visit his friend, Ramdani, was caught
\nwith the contraband by the prison's security officials after they
\nnoticed he was staggering as though drunk.<\/p>\n
The hemp and drugs were seized and he was detained for
\nquestioning.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/life-can-be-meaningful-even-behind-prison-bars-1447893297",
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