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Inmates riot at Nusa Kambangan maximum security prison
Inmates at the super maximum security (SMS) prison on Nusakambangan Island, near Cilacap city, Central Java, rioted Monday and burned facilities, led by foreign death-row convicts, said prison authorities
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Inmates at the super maximum security (SMS) prison on Nusakambangan Island, near Cilacap city, Central Java, rioted Monday and burned facilities, led by foreign death-row convicts, said prison authorities.
The situation around the prison is still tense. Prison officials and police in Cilacap have remained silent on the incident.
The prison houses hard-core convicts, especially death-row inmates condemned for drug-related crimes. There are 256 inmates, including 43 on death row, 19 serving life sentences and the rest facing five to 20 years.
Director General of Correctional Institutions Untung Sugiono arrived from Jakarta on Tuesday.
"The reason behind the incident was probably due to a sense of solidarity by inmates after learning about the planned execution of two Nigerian convicts, when law officers arrived to deliver the execution orders," Untung told the media.
The two Nigerians are believed to have provoked others to start the riot, Untung said.
The Nigerians, identified as Sammuel and Anthony, were due to face execution on Wednesday.
Untung said 56 convicts involved in the riot had damaged a number of prison facilities. The inmates are currently being moved to other prisons on the island. The island consists of five prisons: Permisan, Batu, Kembang Kuning, Besi and the supermax prison in Pasir Putih.
"We isolated them to prevent a similar incident. The two Nigerians are still detained at the SMS," Untung said.
Hundreds of fully equipped elite Mobile Brigade police officers were deployed at the prison on Monday night. Reporters were not allowed to enter the area but monitored the situation from the Wijaya Pura jetty, some 1 kilometer away.
Cilacap Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Teguh Pristiwanto confirmed to the media that convicts had burned several facilities, including offices, documents and the guest hall.
"They knocked down doors and were able to get out of their cells. We don't know exactly why it happened. We are only assisting in security," Teguh said.
"We were able to control the situation on Monday night after deploying Brimob police and requesting help from the Banyumas Police," he told The Jakarta Post.
Some 300 Brimob paramilitary police are still securing the location as of this moment.
