TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Drug dealers, convicted terrorists to be isolated on prison island
Several women wearing veils and men in typical Muslim clothing prepare to leave the Wijaya Pura quay complex on the Nusakambangan prison island, Cilacap, Central Java in mid January
Change Size
S
span class="inline inline-center">Several women wearing veils and men in typical Muslim clothing prepare to leave the Wijaya Pura quay complex on the Nusakambangan prison island, Cilacap, Central Java in mid January. (thejakartapost.com/Agus Maryono)
Drug dealers and convicted terrorists will be isolated in high security cells on the Nusakambangan prison island in Central Java as part of the government's efforts to prevent them from interacting with other inmates.
Twenty cells on the island have been prepared and four convicted terrorists have already been placed there, said Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan in Jakarta on Thursday.
The isolation of both drug dealers and convicted terrorists is expected to prevent their involvement in operations outside of the prison, Luhut added.
Following the terror attack in Jakarta on Jan. 14, the police discovered that Syaiful Anam, alias Mujadid, a convicted terrorist formerly imprisoned on Nusakambangan, had a role in the attack that left four innocent civilians dead.
"We have conducted a review. We will isolate cells in order to prevent any external communication," Luhut said as quoted by Antara news agency.
Such a move, Luhut said, would reduce the ability of drug dealers to bribe guards and outsiders during their period of imprisonment. Citing the drug problems in Mexico, Luhut noted that drug convicts could often assemble gangs of armed thugs on the outside and run their operations from within the prison.
"We don't want to be like Mexico", he said.
Similar rules will be applied to convicted terrorists. Additional categorizations will be implemented to separate prisoners who are ideological, radical or mere supporters. These groups will be placed in cells of no more than two people, Luhut said, adding that convicted terrorists categorized as supporters could still be placed with other regular convicts without the risk of further radicalization.
On Thursday, Luhut visited a number of prisons on the island accompanied by Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly, National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti and National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) head Police Comr. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution as part of preparations to implement the new policy. (liz/bbn)(+)
