VIVAnews – Chairman of Commission III of the House of Representatives, Benny K Harman, said various problems in the penitentiary must be solved by, among any others, revising Law No. 12/1995 on Correctional Practices.
“This is a matter of the legal politics that the House and government must address. We're referring to the law, because the politics is in the law,” said Benny today, Feb 22.
He said that the over-capacity issue is just one out of the many problems of all penitentiaries in Indonesia must deal with.
“Either we keep it as is or we change it. In other countries, the inmates are not confined in the cells. They are ordered to do gardening, which is more productive,” said Benny.
Benny said the riot in Bali prison occurred due to many contributing factors. This is because all activities, such as drug deals, sex, and authority, can be purchased in the prison. “People can even control their business from the prison,” he said.
Moreover, the riot was also sparked by lack of human resources or poor supervision of the prison. “If the jails are equipped with surveillance cameras, then everything would be exposed,” he said.
Riot took place in the Class IIA Kerobokan Penitentiary in Denpasar, Bali on Tuesday night, Feb 21. It finally died down on early Wednesday, Feb 22.
