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Jambi prisoners to be relocated after riot: Minister
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Stay alert: A police officer secures the return of prisoners to the Jambi Class II A Penitentiary on Thursday. (Antara/Wahdi Septiawan)
L
aw and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly has said a number of inmates serving their sentences at the Jambi Class II A Penitentiary will be relocated to other prisons across the province to reduce overcapacity.
This policy has been taken following a recent riot during which seven people, including a police officer, were injured.
“It [the transfer of the inmates] may be the best solution. We will first examine who will be transferred and where they will be moved to. We hope they can be relocated to prisons in Jambi. Let’s see what the situation will look like. If there are inmates with serious crimes, maybe we can move them [from the Jambi prison],” Yasonna said as quoted by Antara on Thursday.
(Read also: Prison riot erupts in Jambi)
During Wednesday’s riot, angry prisoners burned down several rooms in the prison, including the canteen, meeting hall, cooperative office and female cells.
“They filed three demands, including a supply of clean water and toilets. You can imagine, this prison only has 300 toilets to fulfill the needs of 1,700 prisoners. Our problem is prison overcapacity,” said Yasonna.
The police are on the hunt for four inmates who escaped from the correctional facility.
“Our order and security director has departed for Jambi to investigate whether there were violations of operating procedures or other mistakes. Riots have happened repeatedly at the prison. We will evaluate who should be responsible for this and whether there is carelessness,” said Yasonna. (rdi/ebf)
