Minister requests money to fix prison system

Fabiola Desy Unidjaya, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The fatal brawl at Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta prompted Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra to approach President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Wednesday, seeking financial support to address problems within the prison.

"The classic problems at Cipinang are overcrowding and a lack of security personnel. Help and support from the President are needed because we need more money to settle the problems," Yusril said.

The minister quickly outlined several problems, including the importance of having police escorts to transfer prisoners and the need to provide better security facilities for the jail.

"It is not easy to deal with prisoners, this is a very sensitive issue. It could create another brawl if we do not handle the problem carefully," Yusril remarked.

He expected that, by the end of this year, his office could transfer some of the prisoners from Cipinang to other penitentiaries, and rehabilitate Nusakambangan, Cirebon and Cipinang penitentiaries to become more adequate facilities.

The minister also plans to divide the Cipinang penitentiary into two facilities: one would be the detention center for those still on trial, while the other would be for convicts.

"We also need to have more security personnel. Each guard should have to handle only 20 prisoners in each shift, but currently, each guard has to deal with 120 prisoners," the minister remarked.

He underlined that cooperation from the Ministry of Finance and security agencies was needed to help with the penitentiary problem.

There are currently some 2,300 prisoners in Cipinang, which is designed to hold 1,500 people.

Yusril said that, to prevent more brawls at Cipinang, he had transferred 105 prisoners, including the so-called "leaders" of the inmates, to other prisons throughout Java.

He also said that he had asked police to help guard the penitentiary.

The minister said that after dealing with security facilities, he would immediately conduct an internal reform of the penitentiary directorate general to improve the performance of its officials.

Yusril visited Cipinang penitentiary late on Tuesday, following a fresh brawl between two groups of inmates that killed two prisoners and injured three others.