Criminal Element Alleged as Prison Fire Investigation Continues

KOMPAS/ERIKA KURNIA

Press conference on the Tangerang Class I prison fire at the Kramat Jati Police Hospital, East Jakarta, Thursday (9/9/2021).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Jakarta Police suspect a criminal element in the fire that raged in Block C2 of the Tangerang Penitentiary in Banten after gathering information from as many as 22 witnesses.

The witnesses included security guards on duty during the fire, a number of inmates and nearby residents who saw the fire.

The status of the investigation into the fire that claimed 44 lives has also been upgraded to a full investigation.

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The head of the public relations department of the Jakarta Police, commissioner Yusri Yunus, said on Friday (10/9/2021) that the criminal element in the fire was related to Articles 187, 188 and 359 of the Criminal Code. Article 187, among other things, states that anyone who intentionally causes a fire, explosion or flood faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if the event results in the death of a person.

"There are no suspects yet. Investigators will recall witnesses to complete the file," said Yusri.

The office of the Indonesian Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (INAFIs) and the National Police Forensic Laboratory Center are still examining a number of findings from Block C2. "There is an indication of the source of the fire, but it is still being tested in the laboratory," said Yusri.

Not enough

A member of the Indonesian Ombudsman, Jemsly Hutabarat, said that from the institution’s monitoring, the ratio of security guards to inmates in the Tangerang prison was far from ideal. There were 13 security guards and 2,087 inmates, he said. Ideally, one officer is supposed to look after 20 to 25 prisoners or detainees. The prison has the capacity only to house 600 inmates.

DOK.KEMENKUMHAM

Debris from the fire at the Tangerang Penitentiary.

You can imagine that in such a place, if there is a fire, the evacuation cannot be carried out quickly. “Disaster mitigation in prisons that are overcrowded should be carried using technology so that the prison cells can be opened simultaneously. However, security should still be carried out in layers," said Jemsly.

University of Indonesia criminology professor Adrianus Meliala said the government should be open if there was negligence in the fire in the Tangerang prison, such as the low ratio between the inmates and security officers.

With the small number of the prison officers, it would have been difficult to carry out the evacuation, more so if they were not equipped with personal protective equipment to penetrate the fire, he said. "It is reasonable that the death toll reached 44 inmates," said Adrianus.

She acknowledged that the number of the security officers at the prison was far from ideal given the large number of inmates.

Rika Aprianti from the public relations department of the Corrections Directorate General of the Law and Human Rights Ministry said that her office would audit and evaluate the shortcomings that occurred in the handling of the fire in the Tangerang prison. She acknowledged that the number of the security officers at the prison was far from ideal given the large number of inmates.

Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro

Prison officers stand guard at the entrance to the Class I prison in Tangerang, Banten, after the fire, Thursday (9/9/2021).

About 76 percent of the 526 prisons and detention centers in the country’s 33 regions are overcrowded. As of August 2021, these prisons and detention centers housed 266,514 inmates, far larger than their total capacity of 135,561 inmates.

"The Law and Human Rights Ministry has implemented remission and assimilation to reduce the number of inmates by 30 percent during this COVID-19 pandemic. It is hoped that this will reduce the burden of the officers when supervising the inmates," said Rika.

Following the fire in the Tangerang prison, the discourse of revamping the integrated criminal justice system came to the fore again. However, the laws and regulations director general at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Benny Riyanto, said that regardless of the fire, his office had already proposed that new drafts of the Criminal Code, the Corrections Law and the Narcotics Law be included in the priority National Legislation Program.

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The revisions to the Criminal Code and the Corrections Law were discussed by the House of Representatives in the previous term. The two bills are expected to be included in the House’s 2021 National Legislation Program. The revision to the Narcotics Law is expected to be included in the 2022 National Legislation Program because the bill was just submitted.

ABBA GABRILLIN/KOMPAS.COM

Taufik Basari, a member of the House Legislation Body (Baleg) from the Nasdem Faction.

A member of the House Legislation Body (Baleg) from the Nasdem Faction, Taufik Basari, said that the House would, in the near future, evaluate the annual legislative program. The three bills proposed by the government contain provisions that are expected to provide a solution for an integrated criminal justice system in the country. (DAN/DEA/REK/NAD)

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi).