Directorate-General of Corrections Explains Mas Bechi’s Placement in ‘Special Cell’: He Is Not Alone

The Directorate-General of Corrections (Ditjenpas) has clarified reports that convicted sex offender Mochammad Achmad Bechi, also known as Mas Bechi, was being held in a special prison cell. The agency stressed that Bechi is not being held alone.

Ditjenpas spokesman Budi Waskito said Bechi’s placement in a designated area was not a new policy. He said it was a special placement made on security grounds.

“This isn’t new; it’s a special placement,” Budi told reporters on Saturday (10 October 2026).

Budi said Bechi remains in the same block as other inmates. However, he is housed with inmates convicted in certain types of cases as a measure to prevent violence and other security risks.

“He is in the same block as the others. It is simply called a special placement. It is to prevent violence or anything of that kind, so he has been placed in a designated area,” he said.

He stressed that the arrangement did not involve a special cell. Bechi’s cell, he said, was the same as those used by other inmates.

“It’s not a special cell; it’s the same as everyone else’s. He has just been grouped with inmates in other cases. But it is still called a special placement to make it safer,” Budi explained.

Budi said Bechi was not alone in the cell. Four other inmates are currently housed with him.

“He’s not alone. There are four others with him,” he said.

Budi said he did not know whether Bechi’s current placement was the same as the one he had previously been given.

“I don’t have information about the previous arrangement, so I don’t know whether it’s the same as before,” he said.

Budi also denied that the placement was due to preferential treatment or special attention for Bechi.

“It’s not because of special attention. It’s not a privileged cell or a special cell; it’s simply a special placement,” he stressed.

He said special placement could be used for inmates considered to pose security risks inside a prison.

“In cases where there may be security risks in prison, the head of the technical implementation unit can consider a special placement. There is an assessment process,” Budi concluded.

Mas Bechi was previously returned to Malang Class I Prison after his parole was revoked. The man convicted of raping a female student at an Islamic boarding school is now back in custody.

Kusnali, head of the East Java Regional Office of the Directorate-General of Corrections, said his office and the Malang Class I Correctional Centre had carried out the decision revoking Bechi’s parole. They returned him to Malang Class I Prison on Thursday afternoon (8 October 2026).

“Following up on the parole-revocation decision, the team from the Correctional Centre has carried it out and brought MSA (Mas Bechi) back from outside into the prison,” Kusnali told reporters, as quoted by detikjatim on Friday (9 October 2026).

The Directorate-General of Corrections had placed Mas Bechi in a special cell because he was restarting his time as an inmate at Malang Class I Prison after spending nearly a year at liberty.

“For now, we have him under special security,” Kusnali said.

According to Kusnali, Bechi was being held alone in the specially secured cell.

“We have placed him on his own,” he said.