Cipinang jail set ablaze during revolt

JAKARTA (JP): One prisoner died as hundreds of police quelled a revolt inside the Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Director General of Penitentiaries Adi Suyatno said the unrest broke out when some 60 Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers and penitentiary guards were escorting 50 prisoners, mostly convicted on drug offenses, to buses which were to transfer them to Tangerang and Cirebon Penitentiaries.

"Some of the prisoners suddenly revolted. They broke loose ... joined forces with hundreds of other prisoners and started burning the place down," he said.

The rebellious prisoners, he added, took one of the wardens hostage, but he was released later in the day.

It took 11 fire engines more than five hours to quench the blaze.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Baharuddin Lopa reacted strongly to the incident by ordering the dismissal of the penitentiary's chief warden, Andronicus Takasiliang, and the removal of dangerous inmates to the tightly-guarded Nusakambangan penal island off the coast of Central Java.

"I have ordered Adi (Suyatno) to institute immediate and effective measures, including revamping coordination among the authorities in the penitentiary," he told journalists after opening a workshop on human rights.

During the mayhem, some inmates tried to escape by scaling the rear wall of the prison, but none of them succeeded.

Tear gas was fired several times during the riot, as prisoners, armed with machetes, sickles, knives, and molotov cocktails, threatened the lives of other prisoners and guards.

Four prisoners were shot in the stampede, with one of them, later identified as Yadi Suryadi bin Zaelani, alias Morgan, dying from a gunshot wound to the head.

The three injured, Dolly, Edi Sutanto and Nasirin, who were shot in the back, arm and side respectively, were admitted to the National Police's Kramatjati Hospital in East Jakarta.

Adi said that high-profile prisoners, including Mohamad "Bob" Hasan and Ricardo Gelael, were unaffected as they were housed in Block III, which is quite far from the scene of incident in Blocks IA-IE and Blocks IIA-IIF.

City police chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman gave a slightly different version of the story, stating that the 50 prisoners were instead being moved to Nusakambangan.

"I had been asked by Cipinang Penitentiary to provide extra security for a transfer of prisoners to Nusakambangan on Wednesday. I provided the penitentiary with 25 Brimob officers," Mulyono told reporters at city police headquarters.

A source in the penitentiary said the incident was sparked by the inclusion of three of the prisoners' leaders among the 50 being transferred. The three, identified as Tabah, Domy and Pur, are touted icon figures who represent three different ethnic groups in the penitentiary.

"The 50 prisoners were about to be transferred when suddenly the minions of these three leaders attacked the guards in a bid to foil the transfer," the source, who requested anonymity, told reporters at the scene.

Donny was due to complete his sentence on April 2, the source added.

Adi explained that the government had been relocating inmates from the overcrowded Cipinang prison to other penitentiaries nationwide.

He said the damage caused by the fire amounted to over Rp 250 million.

"All the files on these prisoners and other prison matters have been burned. We have some copies and data, but that's it. Four prison motorcycles, the computers and some cars have also been burned. The administration building and auditorium have been burned down, and the security posts have been severely damaged," Adi said. (ylt/bby)