Rizky Amelia – The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights plans to build a Rp 70 billion ($7.7 million) special detention facility for suspects investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission.
The antigraft commission known as the KPK had been pleading for its own detention center, saying it was needed to monitor graft convicts and detainees. Such people are now held in 12 facilities in Jakarta and West Java.
"A decision has been made by [Justice] Minister [Amir Syamsuddin] and the minister says OK," said Sihabuddin, director general of penitentiary affairs at the ministry.
Sihabuddin said the special facility would allow the KPK to expedite its investigation process by having all of its detainees under the same roof. The arrangement would also allow the KPK to impose stricter monitoring of its suspects.
In 2008, graft convict Artalyta Suryani was caught communicating with then co-defendant Urip Tri Gunawan. Artalyta was accused of giving Urip a $660,000 payoff and for trying to coordinate false testimonies during their trials. Artalyta at the time was detained at the National Police detention facility while Urip was at the Salemba penitentiary.
The country's penal system was also the subject of intense criticism after revelations that several high-profile inmates, including Artalyta, were enjoying special treatment and lavish facilities, including air conditioners and LCD televisions.
Sihabuddin said the ministry planned to build a 500-cell detention center for the KPK, but it was not known where the facility would be built. "The KPK wants the facility to be operational immediately, but the decision has just been announced by the minister so we haven't decided much yet," the director general said.
The KPK, he said, would be in charge of financing the eventual operations of the facility, but the ministry would take care of planning and recruitment. "For the personnel inside the detention facility, that is the minister's decision," he said. "The chief warden, the center's doctors, everything is under control of the minister."
In 2009, the KPK requested Rp 93 billion to establish its own prison and detention facilities for corruption convicts and suspects. The proposal was rejected by the House of Representatives
The KPK argued that corruption convicts and suspects could enjoy special privileges by bribing officials. The detainees, the KPK argued, could also face threats and extortion from the rest of the prison population, in jail for ordinary crimes.
Sihabuddin said the proposed facility would only serve graft suspects investigated by the KPK and not convicts who had been sentenced by the court.
The ministry, which oversees the penal system in the country, had already established a special wing at the Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta dedicated to corruption convicts.