Indonesian prison chief suspended over secret VIP compound for inmates

The governor of an Indonesian prison has been suspended after authorities uncovered a suspected luxury compound for VIP inmates within the grounds, prompting a parliamentary inquiry.

However, Director General of Corrections Mashudi denied the accusations during a House of Representatives commission hearing on Monday.

Cibinong Prison in Bogor, West Java, came under investigation after inspectors from the Ombudsman’s office discovered a fenced-off compound behind the prison chief’s house during a surprise visit last Wednesday, according to the Jakarta Globe.

Initially denied entry, the inspectors argued their way inside. “Of course, we started to wonder why we were being obstructed. When we arrived, it turned out there were many homes suspected to be occupied by inmates,” Ombudsman member Fikri Yasin told the Kompas newspaper.

Inside the compound were several buildings that looked like villas, homestay flats and town houses. The Ombudsman’s office also noted a car park, a gym, a swimming pool and a golf simulator under construction.

Several luxury cars were parked in the area. “They have special rooms, they have escorts, and so on. For example, if this is an inmate area, we noticed several luxury cars parked there, including a [Toyota] Alphard. Naturally, we have questions,” Fikri said.

“The facilities appear to have different purposes,” another Ombudsman member, Syafrida Rachmawati Rasahan, told a news conference on Thursday. “But there also seems to be some standardisation, similar to accommodation with suite, deluxe and superior rooms.”

Inspectors also found inmates inside the residences, Tempo news magazine reported. “When they realised this was the Ombudsman, they immediately ran into the bedrooms,” Syafrida said. “So, in our view, there are strong indications that there are special facilities for certain inmates at Cibinong Prison.”

One inmate locked the door from the inside to prevent the inspection team from entering. Near the locked door, inspectors found a framed photo on a table showing Jimmy Masrin, who is serving a 10-year sentence in a corruption case linked to Indonesia Eximbank.

Another inmate admitted to paying to stay at the compound. “Based on our interviews with those occupying the houses, they did pay a certain amount. It is clearly being commercialised, and this is something we will investigate further,” Syafrida said.

The Ombudsman received a report alleging that prisoners were asked to pay 150,000 rupiah (US$8.33) a week, according to The Straits Times.

At Monday’s hearing, Mashudi refuted accusations that the maximum security prison had created special living conditions for paying inmates.

He said the compound housed official residences for prison staff and that one of the buildings was a cattle-fattening facility. All items inside – including bottles of whisky and beer – belonged to prison officers, Mashudi said.

The area under construction was intended for storage lockers rather than leisure facilities, while the inmates seen there were taking part in assimilation and education activities, he added.

Mashudi said the photo of Masrin had been confiscated during a security inspection and stored in the employee residence.

His explanation failed to convince several lawmakers.

“Don’t play games with the public. How could Jimmy Masrin’s framed photograph end up in an official residence?” said lawmaker Yanuar Arif Wibowo of the Prosperous Justice Party. “Don’t lie to cover up an earlier lie.”

The Ombudsman has called for the special facilities to be dismantled before the next inspection. Cibinong Prison chief Wisnu Hani Putranto and four other prison officials have been suspended.

The scandal echoes a case at West Java’s Sukamiskin Prison in 2018, when inmates were found to be paying between 200 million and 500 million rupiah to stay in upgraded cells with air conditioning, televisions and refrigerators. That prison’s governor was later arrested over alleged bribes linked to the special facilities.

The non-governmental organisation Indonesia Corruption Watch has urged authorities to investigate possible corruption in the Cibinong case.

“The Corruption Eradication Commission needs to trace whether there were transactions, flows of money or abuse of authority by prison officials or officers,” researcher Wana Alamsyah said in a statement on Thursday.

“The experience of the Sukamiskin prison case shows that paying for special facilities and permission to leave prison is not merely a disciplinary violation, but can develop into bribery.”