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Corrupters join Tommy in 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