Corrupters arrive on Nusakambangan

Corrupters arrive on Nusakambangan

Pande Lubis (photo: wearing a cap and carrying a bag), a former
deputy of the now-defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency
(IBRA), disembarks from a ship arriving on Nusakambangan island
in Cilacap regency, Central Java.

On Thursday, he and five other convicted corrupters joined
former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala
Putra, who is also serving time in a maximum security prison on
the island.

The five convicts were Lintong Siringo-ringo, Pratomo,
Duryani, Dedi Abdulkadir and Syaeful Bahri Ismail. Like Pande,
all of them will be serving the remainder of their sentences on
Nusakambangan.

The six corrupters were transferred from a number of less
harsh prisons in Jakarta, Bandung and Tangerang, and taken by bus
from Jakarta at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday to Cilacap, escorted
by fully armed police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers.

The Transpas bus arrived at the Wijaya Pura port in Cilacap at
around 5:15 a.m. on Thursday. Five minutes later, they boarded
the ferry belonging the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights,
which took the corrupters on the short journey to Nusakambangan.

After docking at Sodong port, the prisoners disembarked and
got on a truck that carried them to Batu prison.

A horde of journalists, who had waited for the prisoners since
1 a.m. at Sodong port, were prevented by security officers from
entering the prison.

"We will place the six corrupters in special cells at a number
of Nusakambangan prisons, namely Batu, Kembang Kuning and
Permisan jails. Each of them will have two cells," said Paulus
Sugeng, a senior official of the correctional directorate general
at the justice ministry.

He said former State Logistics Agency (Bulog) chief Beddu
Amang, currently incarcerated at Cipinang jail also for
corruption, should have been moved to Nusakambangan along with
the others.

Beddu's worsening health forced the authorities to delay his
move, Paulus said. -- JP