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)