Ulma Haryanto & Febriamy Hutapea – A senior lawmaker on Thursday accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of capitalizing on the prison corruption scandal to boost his own popularity, which has taken a hit due to investigations into the PT Bank Century bailout.

Trimedya Panjaitan from the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P) said the judicial mafia task force's surprise inspection of East Jakarta's Pondok Bambu Women's Detention Center on Sunday was a desperate bid to divert attention from the House of Representatives special committee's probe into the controversial Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout in November 2008.

"This was an image-building exercise," said Trimedya, a member of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, during a discussion at the House. "Efforts to eradicate the judicial mafia should not be simply conducted through inspections followed by purges of the legal apparatus."

The task force – recently established by Yudhoyono to tackle graft in the country's legal system – visited Pondok Bambu after receiving a tip-off about rampant corruption at the jail. The team discovered high-profile inmates such as Artalyta Suryani – who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 for bribing state prosecutors – enjoying special privileges, including spa treatments, air-conditioning and even a karaoke room. The prison's director, Sarju Wibowo, was suspended as a result.

Real reform, Trimedya said, came from substantial moves to overhaul the correctional system, instead of merely inspecting one prison and then failing to clear up the mess.

He also pointed out that the team's members, made up of accomplished technocrats, would no longer be focused on their primary duties because of the wide scope of the task force.

One member, Yunus Husein, chairman of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), has been ordered by the House special committee to track down the funds used in the Bank Century bailout.

Emerson Yuntho, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, told the Jakarta Globe that the president's judicial mafia task force "might be a way to cover up some of the government's embarrassments."

He went as far as to say that the suspended prison warden might have even been made a scapegoat. "More comprehensive investigations are needed because it is known by all that [corruption] does not only happen at Pondok Bambu, but also at other penitentiaries," he said.

Furthermore, Emerson said the sanction would not solve the problem of graft in the correctional system. "If suspension is the only punishment, then people like Sarju may laugh it off," he said, adding that it could be used as an excuse to ask for more bribes because they can say their jobs were now at stake.

Emerson said prison officials caught engaging in graft should be dishonorably discharged.

"Penitentiaries have two major problems – poor provision of facilities and negligence in supervision," he said. "There should be more surprise inspections, they need to improve the infrastructure and the facilities of penitentiaries, reinforce the system of monitoring and supervision."

Patra M Zen, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), told the Jakarta Globe that the government needed to do more than dole out administrative sanctions. "Alleged criminal activities must be investigated – particularly bribery," he said.

Darmaji, chairman of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights' General Audit Inspectorate, said investigations were continuing into corruption at state penitentiaries.

"Right now we are doing a thorough inspection of the Pondok Bambu case," he said. "We are tracking down former wardens and top-level officials involved in the provision of those luxurious facilities at Pondok Bambu. Some have already been transferred to Bandung, Palembang and other cities, but it does not mean that we are not pursuing them."