Dessy Sagita – A string of state institutions agreed on Thursday to tighten regulations and improve standard operating procedures at penitentiaries and detention centers across Indonesia.
Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar said his office had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Finance Ministry, the National Police and the Attorney General's Office to improve prison management. The MoU, he said, would hopefully prevent further cases of suspects or convicts bribing their way out of their prison cells.
"When Gayus managed to leave the prison, everybody was shocked and asked how come," Patrialis said, referring to notorious graft convict Gayus Tambunan. "We aim to prevent this."
Prosecutors recently sought a six-year jail term for Comr. Iwan Siswanto, the former warden who allegedly allowed Gayus to walk out of the National Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) detention facility in Depok on at least 68 separate occasions, in exchange for bribes.
Patrialis acknowledged that the management of prisons was flawed, and this included treatment of prisoners.
The MoU stipulates that suspects or defendants spending time in detention centers under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry or the AGO must be transferred to a state penitentiary as soon as investigations have been completed and a sentencing demand made.
The MoU further states that in special cases, such as when there are concerns over security or the standard of facilities, suspects could be moved to a state penitentiary even before investigation procedures were completed.
Separately, National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo acknowledged that the Brimob detention facility in Depok, the detention center at the National Police's headquarters, and similar centers in South Sumatra, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi were operating without clear standard procedures.
"We also find it difficult to feed prisoners properly because of limited funds," he said. "This is why this MoU is important for us."
About 140,000 inmates are locked up at 413 prisons across the country, although these were only designed to house less than 90,000.