Cipinang jail under control, but no visitors allowed

JAKARTA (JP): The condition in Cipinang penitentiary is now under control but visitors were still not allowed, the newly installed warden Asep M. Firdaus said on Saturday evening.

"Although it's not all back to normal here, the situation is getting better. There is no longer tension or clashes among the inmates," he told The Jakarta Post by phone from his office.

Asep said that in the evening, the penitentiary started to install new cell doors to replace the ones which were damaged by the prisoners during the riot that broke out early on Wednesday. The repair work would continue on the burned kitchen.

"We'll accomplish the work, hopefully, within these weeks ... then everything will run normally again."

Asep said that based on results of meetings with head of Jakarta office of Justice and Human Rights Iman Santoso, the prison is temporarily closed to visitors, pending the accomplishment of the repair work and until things have cooled down.

"Pak Iman has scheduled a day for a ceremony which will be open to the public to inaugurate the repaired prison. It will likely take place sometime in April, just wait," he said.

The unrest broke out in the wee hours of Wednesday when 50 inmates were heading for buses which were to transport them to Tangerang and Cirebon prisons.

Police shot four prisoners, killing one of them, in an attempt to quell the riot.

The penitentiary's administration building and auditorium, computers, security posts and prisoners' files, a car and four motorcycles were burned during the unrest. At least 17 cell doors were broken.

Situated on Jl. Bekasi Timur in East Jakarta, the prison houses some 2,300 inmates, far exceeding it's capacity to accommodate 1,500.

Asep said that after the incident, security was tightened in order to prevent any attempt by the inmates to flee the prison.

"We have anticipated the attempts. We are on alert. We are tightly guarding the prison with the help of the police," he added.

As of Saturday, the police had deployed around 300 policeman to guard the penitentiary.

Asep, who was installed on Thursday to replace Andronicus Takasiliang, also said he had approached several inmates to involve himself in efforts to improve conditions.

A staffer at the penitentiary said that none of the prisoners held any weapons anymore since the wardens and the police had confiscated all of them.

"To our relief, most of them even turned in the weapons themselves without being forced," he told the Post earlier on Saturday.

Many prisoners were found armed with sharp weapons to attack penitentiary officers during the riot. (bby)