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Aceh police station to relocate 90 inmates after jail riot
A police detention center in Aceh is temporarily relocating dozens of inmates after an alleged clash over a water dispenser turned into a riot.
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The burned roof of the Sigli Police detention center is visible above a row of inmates under the guard of armed officers. The fire started during a riot that broke out at the detention center on Monday. (Shutterstock/OFFFSTOCK)
T
he Sigli Police in Pidie, Aceh, have temporarily relocated dozens of inmates from its detention center to other facilities after a riot involving at least 466 inmates on Monday caused a fire.
An official with the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Correctional Facilities Directorate General, Ade Kusmanto, said that at least 90 inmates would be transferred temporarily to the Pidie women’s prison and Pidie Police detention center.
He added that three of the seven inmates who escaped during the incident had been recaptured.
Ade said the riot apparently broke out at the Sigli Police detention center when a guard attempted to remove a water dispenser from a cell block. The dispenser had been provided in the block to provide drinking water to inmates who were fasting during Ramadan.
“The guard's action apparently angered the inmates and led to a clash, which spread to other [blocks]," Ade told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Correctional facilities director-general Sri Puguh Budi Utami said the situation was under control.
“We have cooperated with the Pidie fire department and police to extinguish the fire,” she said in a statement. “As of now, we are still investigating who actually started the [riot].” (dmr)
