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| Outside authorities found several cells that featured modern bathrooms with hot showers, full-sized refrigerators, coffee makers, microwave ovens and stereo loudspeakers |
Inmates at
an Indonesian prison paid for luxury cells equipped with air conditioning,
flat-screen TVs and private washrooms, anti-graft officials said, in the
graft-riddled country's latest corruption scandal.
Jail staff
allegedly took bribes of 200-500 million rupiah ($14,000-$35,000) from inmates
to renovate cells and supply banned mobile phones or even let them temporarily
leave prison, Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said.
Anti-graft
agents arrested five people connected to the scandal at Sukamiskin prison,
including inmates and the warden who got cash and a pair of vehicles to look
the other way, it added.
A raid on
Sunday turned up several cells that featured modern bathrooms with hot showers,
full-sized refrigerators, coffee makers, microwave ovens and stereo
loudspeakers, the KPK said.
"We
apologise to the Indonesian people," Sri Puguh Budi Utami, the director
general of Indonesia's prisons, told reporters late Sunday.
"We're
very sorry that we still have not been able to maximise our monitoring
systems."
A former
tax official now serving time at Sukamiskin was once photographed watching a
tennis tournament in Bali and had even travelled overseas on a fake passport
when he was supposed to be in another jail.
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Jail staff
allegedly took bribes of 200-500 million rupiah ($14,000-$35,000) from
inmates
to renovate cells and supply banned mobile phones or even let them
temporarily
leave prison
|
The
prison's other inmates include a former chief justice and ex-house speaker
Setya Novanto, who was convicted in April of taking millions of dollars in
kickbacks and bribes linked to the national roll-out of government ID cards.
They were
not among the inmates or prison staff arrested Sunday.
Indonesian
prisons are more commonly known for their poor conditions and outbreaks of
violence.
But it is
an open secret that the rich and powerful can buy luxury on the inside, prompting
the government to warn last year that it would jail guards or other staff
caught taking bribes from inmates in exchange for special treatment.
In one of
the highest-profile cases, a businesswoman imprisoned for bribery had a cell
with a spring mattress, couch, refrigerator, television and air conditioning --
and adjoining karaoke room.