Warden fired over jailbreak scandal

BANDARLAMPUNG, Lampung: The Lampung regional justice office has fired East Lampung's Sukadana penitentiary chief Heru Setiana for negligence leading to the mass breakout last week.

At least 45 unguarded prisoners escaped through a series of unlocked doors as they were served pre-dawn meals.

Four wardens have been declared suspects for letting the prisoners escape, while demotion was proposed for six others for leaving the main gate unlocked.

As head of the prison, Heru, now replaced by Suprapto, was also blamed for leaving the inmates unguarded.

A special team investigating the case questioned 11 security officers and 14 prisoners, including 4 recaptured prisoners, on Friday.

The Lampung police discovered a number of irregularities during their investigation, including three doors left unlocked and the strange absence of guards. --JP