Prisoners face transfer after riot

Prisoners face transfer after riot

JAKARTA (JP): Thirty-seven prisoners, who are believed to have
provoked other inmates to start a riot at the overcrowded Bulak
Kapal penitentiary in Bekasi on Sunday, will be transferred to
Nusakambangan, an official said on Wednesday.

"The transfer will be conducted soon, but the date is still
confidential," Hasanuddin, the director general of correctional
institutions under the Ministry of Law and Legislation, told The
Jakarta Post.

Hasanuddin said the prisoners were moved to Cirebon Prison in
West Java on Tuesday to await for their departure to
Nusakambangan Prison on Nusakambangan island in the southern part
of Central Java.

Nusakambangan Prison is a maximum security prison designed for
dangerous and repeat offenders.

The riot began after a group of prisoners attacked a prison
guard and burned part of the complex. Five prisoners were shot by
prison guards during the outbreak of violence in which two guards
were injured.

Hasanuddin said his office would further investigate the case
to determine if other prisoners were involved.

"If other (convicts) are involved, they will be transferred,
too," Hasanuddin said.

He also said some prisoners would be moved to other prisons
because the Bulak Kapal penitentiary was overcrowded.

"We may transfer them to prisons in Cirebon, Bandung or
Surabaya," Hasanuddin said, adding that the plan would be carried
out gradually.

Hasanuddin also said similar actions would follow at other
overcrowded prisons.(08)