Jakarta – The Law and Human Rights Ministry has moved graft convict Setya Novanto from Sukamiskin prison in Bandung, West Java, to Gunung Sindur prison after a photo showed him hanging out freely with his wife in West Bandung on Friday.
The former House of Representatives speaker was transferred to Gunung Sindur prison in Bogor, also West Java, at 9:30 p.m. on Friday.
Setya had left his cell on Wednesday for medical treatment at Santosa Hospital, Bandung, and returned on Friday at around 7 p.m. but was then seen relaxing at a shopping center in Padalarang.
In the photo, Setya was wearing a short-sleeved white shirt and black trousers.
"We immediately questioned him as he arrived. We immediately moved him, and the questioning will continue there," Liberty Sitinjak, head of the West Java Law and Human Rights Agency, said on Friday night, as quoted by kompas.com.
Gunung Sindur prison, he added, was the right place for Setya, as it had tighter security, since most of the inmates there were terrorism convicts or former drug dealers.
"It is clear enough that [Setya] was breaking the rules before he returned from the hospital. He did not go straight to the prison and tricked our security staff," Liberty added.
Liberty said he would investigate the incident further and assess the staff watching Setya at the time. "We will try to figure out immediately how this happened," he said.
On April 24, 2018, the Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Setya to 15 years in prison for his role in a graft case. He was declared guilty of rigging the Rp 5.9 trillion (US$410 million) e-ID project, reportedly causing Rp 2.3 trillion in state losses.
Five months after the sentence, the Indonesian Ombudsman discovered that Setya enjoyed special treatment at Sukamiskin prison, including a cell that was more spacious than the others.
"Setya's room is wider and better, twice as wide as others," Ombudsman Indonesia head Ninik Rahayu said in September as quoted by Tempo. (ggq)