Special police escort for convict Bob Hasan

Special police escort for convict Bob Hasan

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In Indonesia, money talks; even in jail. Former timber magnate
Muhammad "Bob" Hasan, a convicted felon, retains his rights to
all the privileges the state has to offer, including special
police attention.

While common, though law-abiding, citizens have to share one
policeman among 2,000 people, Muhammad "Bob" Hasan has been
granted seven police escorts to accompany him out of
Nusakambangan Penitentiary in Central Java for a monthly medical
check-up in Jakarta.

The golfing buddy of former president Soeharto, Bob has kept
the Cilacap police busy in the past two years as he has left the
prison frequently to go to the hospital and other places.

It is questionable that similar treatment is provided to armed
robbers, that is, a seven-member police escort.

However, such special treatment was defended by the Minister
of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra as a common
procedure that could be applied to other criminals.

"Every convicted felon has the right to receive medical
treatment, because we cannot provide specialist doctors for the
prisoners," he said on Friday.

"For example, should one prisoner need to go to a dentist, we
have to escort the person out, because we cannot provide dental
treatment at the penitentiary," the minister said.

The minister said that Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta
also followed such practices and therefore, there was nothing
special in the treatment accorded to Bob Hasan.

The Cilacap police office that oversees the penitentiary
cannot refuse the request to escort Bob out of prison, despite
their other policing duties.

Bob was sentenced to six years in prison by a Jakarta district
court for his involvement in a major forestry graft case. His
prison term was then extended to six years by the Jakarta High
Court in 2000.

He is the only close associate of Soeharto to have been
convicted.

The tycoon was transferred in early 2001 by then-president
Abdurrahman Wahid to Batu Prison in Nusakambangan, where
Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, sentenced
to 15 years for murder, joined Bob earlier this year.

The Nusakambangan Penitentiary, established initially to house
highly dangerous criminals, is now home to high-profile criminals
such as Bob and Tommy.

People have expressed their suspicions that both Bob and Tommy
may be receiving special privileges from the State during their
prison terms, easily concealed because Nusakambangan is located
far from Jakarta and public view.

Yusril brushed aside the suspicions, maintaining that
everything was conducted by the book and that it would be wrong
for prison officials to restrict felons from receiving medical
treatment.

"People will also blame me if Bob dies in Nusakambangan
because of his illness, so there's nothing wrong with his
treatment," he said.