Jakarta – For many well-heeled Indonesians in jail for graft or other crimes, penitentiaries are not so different from hotels.

Both places have rooms – at different prices depending on how much one pays – daily meals, and some even come with televisions and Internet connections.

Both also have uniformed receptionists – in prisons they are called guards – who may treat visitors with courtesy or with impertinence, depending on how much one tips.

John, not his real name, has spent years in one of the country's most remote penitentiaries, Nusakambangan prison off the coast of Java. Classified as a high-profile offender, John misappropriated billions of rupiah in state funds during his tenure at a state financial management firm.

With these kind of credentials, in the penitentiary, John is entitled to "contribute" Rp 6 million (US$689) a month to the prison administrators. By paying that much, John gets a prison room to himself, clean sheets and catered meals. He also gets a cleaning service provided by other inmates. For that he is charged extra.

Just like any other convict with money in the state facility, John can buy almost anything he needs, as long as the guards are willing to let him have it. For his favorite item, a newspaper, he has to pay twice the price of what it is on the market.

"Things get better as time passes. These days we don't have to pay as much. I guess the prison guards become more lenient to those who have spent a relatively long period in the prison," John's brother told The Jakarta Post. John's brother said that John had spent his first months of detention in the Cipinang State Penitentiary, Jakarta. In Cipinang, he spent Rp 15 million a month for a room separate from the poorer inmates.

A visit by family or friends is the moment most awaited by most inmates. For this too, there is a charge. "I had friends who visited me several times at the prison but they were turned away by the guards because they couldn't pay," said a former inmate who was imprisoned in Krobokan State Penitentiary, Bali, for the possession of an illegal drug. "The price for visiting is relative. Back in my day, it was around Rp 20,000 per person," he said.

According to the former inmate, a guards and prisoners had a symbiotic relationship. "The guards sold what the inmates wanted. Some of them even sold drugs to the inmates. Drugs are aplenty in prison. I took them every day just to help me get through the day, to make it go faster. If you know what I mean," the inmate said.

"The are of course guards who oppose such a thing. They were the clean ones. But they also sold stuff. Stuff like phone cards, foods, cigarettes. All kinds of things," he said.

"When I was first imprisoned, I was placed in Section E. That was where the poor inmates were supposed to be. The condition of the prison was terrible. Plus, the kind of people who were in that section, I couldn't really converse with them," he said.

"And so I requested for a transfer. For that I had to bribe one of the guards. It wasn't too costly, only Rp 70,000. That was the only money I had. He understood that I couldn't quite fit in there," the former inmate said.

Responding to public concerns about bribery in jails, the chief of security and order at the Directorate General of State Correctional Facilities, Djoko Mardjo, told the Post that his office had taken extra measures to prevent corruption and bribery from occurring.

"In the case of charges for visits, that is strictly prohibited. We have placed signs in prisons stating that there is no charge for visits," Djoko said.

"Apart from that, the Directorate General has instructed all heads of divisions in every province to keep tight control on the guards. They (the heads) have to conduct inspections of all prisons under them," he said.

Djoko said how guards behaved in jail very much depended on their pay and conditions. "Our system is excellent, but it depends on the personnel in the field. Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), the House of Representatives has passed a draft granting a significant increase in financial benefits for our personnel this year," Djoko said.