Minister requests money to fix prison system

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.