28 penitentiary officers dismissed for drugs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/22/2011

Twenty-eight penitentiary officers were dismissed last year for involvement in drug cases, an official said Tuesday.

“Some of them used drugs, some sold them and some others helped smuggle drugs into the penitentiaries,” said Bambang Sumardyono, head of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights prevention and enforcement sub-directorate within the directorate general of correctional affairs.

Most of the dismissed officers were from North Sumatra and Jakarta, Bambang said in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara. 

He said that their cases had been transferred to the police for legal processing.

In anticipation of such offenses, Bambang said that the directorate had established a task force in 2006 involving the police to conduct operations in penitentiaries.

Devices to bar cellular phones and sound recorders were also used to prevent criminal activity, he added.