It is known that the conditions of detention in Indonesian prisons are not soft-violent manners in overcrowded cells, but as it turned out, for the right price, a number of prisoners can buy a camera that is more like a hotel room than a prison.
After an inspection at Sukamiskin prison in West Java, the Country’s Commission for the eradication of corruption (CPC) released a video showing one of the VIP cameras equipped with air conditioning, a flat-screen TV, a small fridge, a kitchenette and a bathroom with a heated shower.
According to the Jakarta Post newspaper, the premises were assigned Dharmawansa Fahmy, a businessman who was convicted in 2017 in connection with the corruption scandal with participation of a procurement project of the Council of safety at sea.
It is reported that the prison staff took bribes from 200 to 500 million rupees (from 14 thousand to 35 thousand US dollars) from prisoners to equip their cells, among other things, with modern bathrooms, full-size refrigerators, coffee makers, microwave ovens, stereo systems, TVs and air conditioning.
For a higher cost, prisoners could also “buy” banned mobile phones from guards, and in some cases, keys that allowed them to come and go from prison on their own.
The money was paid before the prisoners arrived at the facility, the Jakarta Post reported, but it is unclear whether they should make additional payments.
Anti-corruption authorities arrested and accused five people associated with the scandal, including prisoners, as well as the prison Governor, Wahid Hussein, who allegedly received cash and cars to “look the other way.”
Sunday’s RAID was not the only one when it was found out that Indonesian prisoners live in “five-star” cells, and also receive special treatment from the staff.
In 2009 authorities discovered that the camera at Artalyta Suryani , business-woman, imprisoned for bribery, was a playpen, babysitter and adjacent karaoke lounge in his cell in prison Senayan Bambu, East Jakarta.
In 2010, Gaius Tambunan, a former tax official who was jailed for embezzlement, was seen at an international tennis tournament on the resort island of Bali, while allegedly serving a sentence.
Leopold, Sudario, an expert in prison in the Asian Fund, the publication said that convicted corrupt officials, who often have large States and links to use their political and economic leverage for the purchase of luxurious objects.
In response to the revelation this week, the Ministry of law and human rights apologized and promised to conduct an investigation.
