Purwokerto Prison Employees Arrested By Police For Drug Cases

JAKARTA - The head of the Purwokerto Class II-A Penitentiary, Sugito, admitted that one of his employees was arrested by the Cilacap Police Narcotics Investigation Unit for being involved in a case of methamphetamine.

"The chronology of the incident, on May 27, 2021, we received information from Class II-A Cilacap Prisons that an employee of the Class II-A Purwokerto Prison was arrested by the Cilacap Police Narcotics Unit", said Sugito in Purwokerto, Banyumas Regency, Central Java, reported by Antara, Tuesday, June 15.

The next day, May 28, his party communicated directly with the Head of the Narcotics Unit at the Cilacap Police, AKP Poniman, to confirm the identity of the prison employee who was arrested for the drug case.

After checking, he continued, it was true that the person arrested by the Cilacap Police Narcotics Unit was an employee of the Class II-A Purwokerto Prison with the initials AS (37).

He then asked the Cilacap Police to provide administrative evidence, namely an arrest warrant and a detention warrant if he was in custody.

"However, for reasons that are still under investigation, it was only on June 7 that we officially received a copy of the notification on the development of drug cases on behalf of AS. The letter also attached a letter of arrest for the person concerned", he said.

Therefore, on June 8, his party immediately formed an inspection team consisting of structural officials of the Class II-A Purwokerto Prison to conduct an examination of employees on behalf of AS who were being detained at the Cilacap Police Station.

The results of the examination, he said, recommended that AS be proposed to receive sanctions in the form of temporary dismissal by Government Regulation No. 53 of 2010 concerning Civil Servant Discipline.

"We have proposed a temporary dismissal letter to the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of Central Java Province on June 14, 2021, based on the minutes of examination by the Class II-A Prison Team Purwokerto", he said.

If AS is found guilty at trial, it will propose a dishonorable discharge.

Before being arrested by the Cilacap Police Narcotics Unit, said Sugito, AS' performance had actually shown signs that it was not optimal.

Therefore, he said, since 2020 AS has been prohibited from entering the residential blocks of prisoners through the P2U prison door.

"The movement limit is only in this general administration office space. So, the person in question has been banned for a long time or is not allowed to enter the prison environment. When I just served here (January 2021, ed.) he has been banned and received general administrative duties", he explained.

It was also said that AS was known to have served in Cilacap Class II-A Prisons, then transferred to Class II-B Plantungan Kendal Prisons, and finally transferred to Class II-A Prisons in Purwokerto.

"AS was moved to Purwokerto about 2 or 3 years ago. According to information, he was transferred from Cilacap to Plantungan and finally to Purwokerto because he often missed work", Sugito said.

Sugito said that the case involving AS served as a warning and concern for Purwokerto Class II-A Prison officers, in general, to be more careful and not play with drugs because the sanctions are very clear, namely being fired.

According to him, his party is very committed to the eradication of drugs as per the three daily orders of the Director-General of Corrections, namely early detection, eradicating drugs, and synergy with other law enforcement officers.

"Therefore, we are working with the Banyumas Regency National Narcotics Agency to routinely hold urine tests for prison staff and correctional inmates. We also routinely conduct raids on residential blocks", he said.