PDI-P lawmaker supports KPK prison

A Commission III lawmaker from the PDI-P, Gayus Lumbuun, says the government must provide the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) with its own prison facility to detain convicts of corruption crimes.

"The suggestion will be discussed at an internal meeting after the recess period of the House of Representatives ends," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He added that the government must provide the budget for the prison's construction to address the "urgent" need to deal with white collar crimes.

"Corrupt officials are of a different character. Therefore, they must be separated [from other criminals]," he said, adding that bribery was a big habit of corrupt officials and that they also possessed a wide network.

A former tax officer implicated in a tax evasion scheme, Gayus H. Tambunan, slipped out of a mobile brigade prison last week and was caught on camera attending a tennis match in Bali over the weekend.

Lumbuun further said that the suggestion deserved support since the public upholded the KPK as well. (gzl)