Prison Fires Are Considered Negligent, The Director General Of PAS And The Minister Of Law And Human Rights Must Resign As A Responsibility

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Legal Practitioners (Alpha), Azmi Syahputra, assessed that the Tangerang Class I Penitentiary fire was proof of the government's unpreparedness in managing the inmates' premises.

According to him, the incident was purely the prison's negligence in controlling the prodeo hotel environment. Azmi said the prison emergency response team did not function in the fire conditions, as per the regulation of the Minister of Law and Human Rights Number 33 of 2015 concerning security in prisons and state detention houses which was signed by the Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly on October 15, 2015.

"Emergency response team officers were unable to secure the inmates or inmates, resulting in dozens of people dying from the fire," said Azmi, Thursday, September 9.

Basically, continued Azmi, with the statement by the Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly who admitted that there had been no repair of electrical installations after 42 years, it was a mistake. This caused a fire that resulted in the death of 44 prisoners. "So the state must be held accountable," he said.

In this case, said Azmi, it is not only the Head of Police who must be responsible, but the Director General of Corrections including the Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly must be removed or resign.

"This is a form of positional and moral responsibility for a purely humanitarian tragedy due to their negligence as the holder of the authority to administer security," said Azmi again.

Because, he continued, it should be suspected that there was no immediate action to follow up on appropriate measures for the known situation. "It should be suspected that this was intentional as he knew (but) there had been no repairs to electrical installations for almost 42 years, even though prison conditions were overcrowded," Azmi explained. On the other hand, Azmi said, security officers routinely carry out activities to control the prison environment and provide reports every day. This means, he said, the Head of the prison and security officers are very aware of the condition of the prison.

"If this control is properly carried out every day, even though there is an overmacht situation, this should be anticipated. This means that there are facts here that can be qualified as unlawful acts that meet the elements to be held legally accountable to parties who have the authority. Including families of prisoners can sue, " he explained.

Azmi also asked for a comprehensive investigation and detailed identification of this incident. Namely, the police must be open to the public in investigating this fire case fairly and thoroughly.

"This involves lives and there are many victims. There are many cries, sorrows, and losses to families in this case. They are in prison to be fostered, so it must be ensured that the mental safety of the prisoners must be ensured. For this loss of life, the state must be held accountable," said Azmi.