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ILACAP: As many as 120 inmates have been transferred from several prisons in Jakarta to Nusakambangan Penitentiary over the past week because of overcrowding.

Prisons deemed to have breached capacity include Cipinang, Narcotics and Salemba penitentiaries.

Cipinang Prison guard Prayitno, who was tasked with escorting one group of convicts to Nusakambangan, said most of the 120 prisoners sent to Nusakambangan had been convicted for drug-related crimes in Jakarta.

“Some of them are serving up to 17 years in prison,” Prayitno told the media in Cilacap on Thursday.

The relocation of prisoners reflects the message expressed by Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsudin, who recently visited Nusakambangan. He said his ministry would relocate around 2,000 inmates from overcrowded prisons in Jakarta and other cities to Nusakambangan Island.