Rizky Amelia – The fallout from the discovery of late-night visitors meeting with high-profile graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin has claimed its first scalps, with Cipinang Penitentiary warden Suharman among four people losing their posts over the fiasco.

Amir Syamsuddin, the justice and human rights minister, said on Sunday that sweeping changes had been ordered following the discovery that Nazaruddin had met with his brother, Muhammad Nasir, and several lawyers in his cell at Cipinang at 11 p.m. last Wednesday. Prison visiting hours end at 5 p.m.

Amir said that in addition to removing Suharman from his position, he had also replaced the head of his ministry's Jakarta office, Taswin Tarib, and the office's corrections unit head, Hafiluddin.

"The ministry is committed to measures to improve the system by replacing the regional office head, the regional office corrections unit head and the Cipinang Penitentiary head," Amir said at a press conference at his office.

Denny Indrayana, the deputy justice minister, added that the Cipinang head of security, identified only as F.A., had also been replaced.

Amir said replacements would be appointed through a fit-and-proper test "that prioritizes the integrity as much as the capacity of the candidates." "All this is being done as part of the reward-and-punishment scheme to improve [the ministry]," he said.

Denny, who made the impromptu late-night inspection that led to the uproar, said the three officials had been removed "based on evaluations of their performance and violations."

Amir said he would not rescind a policy introduced by his predecessor, Patrialis Akbar, allowing members of House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, access to prisons to conduct checks at any time.

Nasir, who serves on Commission III for the Democratic Party, claimed last week that his visit to Nazaruddin was work-related. However, he later admitted that it was personal in nature.

Nazaruddin, the former Democrat treasurer, also served on Commission III before he was arrested and put on trial in a scandal related to the Southeast Asian Games.

Amir said that the policy would remain in place "so that there are no accusations that I'm blocking the House form carrying out its function."

"We don't mind [legislators visiting], as long as they inform myself or the director general of corrections," he said. "But what's at question here is whether these visits are really part of their job or whether there are other reasons at play."

He said that not all Commission III legislators had been issued a special access card to enter prisons, and that Nasir did not have one. "Only 16 people have been issued these cards, and Nasir's name isn't on that list," he said.

Amir said he would order more cameras to be installed at Cipinang as well as at other major penitentiaries across the country. The CCTV systems send live feeds directly to the minister and deputy minister's offices.