Penitentiaries need modern security systems: Yusril<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra blamed the prisons' poor security systems on Wednesday
\nfor rising numbers of inmates fleeing the penitentiaries.<\/p>\n
\"It happened ... we admit that two female inmates escaped last
\nweek,\" Yusril said, referring to a daring escape by three women
\ninmates from Tangerang Prison last Friday.<\/p>\n
\"But if we compare with statistical data of previous years, I
\nhave to honestly tell you that the number of escaped inmates
\ndecreased to below 40 percent this year,\" he told reporters after
\nattending a book launching, titled \"Cross Examination\", edited by
\nnoted lawyer O.C. Kaligis at Hotel Mulia Senayan.<\/p>\n
The three female inmates identified as Maya, 40, Angle Deby,
\n30, and Ranni Andriani, 25 escaped from the Tangerang Women and
\nChildren Penitentiary by climbing the four-meter wall surrounding
\nthe prison.<\/p>\n
Maya and Angle escaped, but Ranny, a convicted cocaine
\nsmuggler with a death sentence, was left behind after breaking
\nher hip when she fell from the wall.<\/p>\n
During questioning by prison officials, Ranny said Maya and
\nAngle were serving eight years and 1.5 years imprisonment,
\nrespectively, for drug dealing and consumption.<\/p>\n
Police detectives have been distributing pictures of Maya and
\nAngle and keeping relatives' homes and past residences under
\nsurveillance.<\/p>\n
Yusril said, as of today, nothing can be done to improve the
\nprisons' security systems due to limited funds.<\/p>\n
\"If you visit the penitentiaries, you will find that they are
\nin poor condition,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that it was only this year that his ministry received
\na 30 percent budget increase.<\/p>\n
\"With the hike, there is little hope of fixing equipment and
\nsupporting facilities at the penitentiaries,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He explained that there were a limited number of prison
\nofficials and a penitentiary has only four guns to secure the
\nwhole complex.<\/p>\n
\"We don't have money to buy more firearms,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Yusril said it was the prison officials' mistake that allowed
\nthe two female prisoners to escape, but suggested that the
\nprison's poor security system was also to blame.<\/p>\n
The minister said that currently there are 400,000 inmates
\ndetained in prisons across the country.<\/p>\n
In January of this year, 26 prisoners managed to escape from
\nGunung Sari Penitentiary in South Sulawesi by pushing over a wall
\nunder reconstruction.<\/p>\n
In March, Tjong Yan Men escaped from Salemba Penitentiary
\nofficials during his visit to Graha Medika hospital in West
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
In June, 531 prisoners almost broke away from the Bulak Kapal
\nPrison in Bekasi, while in November, four prisoners escaped from
\nthe Ciracas police subprecinct station in East Jakarta. (01)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/penitentiaries-need-modern-security-systems-yusril-1447893297",
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