Minister requests money to fix prison system<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaya, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The fatal brawl at Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta
\nprompted Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra to approach President Megawati Soekarnoputri on
\nWednesday, seeking financial support to address problems within
\nthe prison.<\/p>\n
\"The classic problems at Cipinang are overcrowding and a lack
\nof security personnel. Help and support from the President are
\nneeded because we need more money to settle the problems,\" Yusril
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The minister quickly outlined several problems, including the
\nimportance of having police escorts to transfer prisoners and the
\nneed to provide better security facilities for the jail.<\/p>\n
\"It is not easy to deal with prisoners, this is a very
\nsensitive issue. It could create another brawl if we do not
\nhandle the problem carefully,\" Yusril remarked.<\/p>\n
He expected that, by the end of this year, his office could
\ntransfer some of the prisoners from Cipinang to other
\npenitentiaries, and rehabilitate Nusakambangan, Cirebon and
\nCipinang penitentiaries to become more adequate facilities.<\/p>\n
The minister also plans to divide the Cipinang penitentiary
\ninto two facilities: one would be the detention center for those
\nstill on trial, while the other would be for convicts.<\/p>\n
\"We also need to have more security personnel. Each guard
\nshould have to handle only 20 prisoners in each shift, but
\ncurrently, each guard has to deal with 120 prisoners,\" the
\nminister remarked.<\/p>\n
He underlined that cooperation from the Ministry of Finance
\nand security agencies was needed to help with the penitentiary
\nproblem.<\/p>\n
There are currently some 2,300 prisoners in Cipinang, which is
\ndesigned to hold 1,500 people.<\/p>\n
Yusril said that, to prevent more brawls at Cipinang, he had
\ntransferred 105 prisoners, including the so-called \"leaders\" of
\nthe inmates, to other prisons throughout Java.<\/p>\n
He also said that he had asked police to help guard the
\npenitentiary.<\/p>\n
The minister said that after dealing with security facilities,
\nhe would immediately conduct an internal reform of the
\npenitentiary directorate general to improve the performance of
\nits officials.<\/p>\n
Yusril visited Cipinang penitentiary late on Tuesday,
\nfollowing a fresh brawl between two groups of inmates that killed
\ntwo prisoners and injured three others.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/minister-requests-money-to-fix-prison-system-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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