MAKASSAR - The Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkum HAM) has disabled two heads of correctional institutions (kalapas) in South Sulawesi on suspicion of illegal levies (extortion).
"For the time being, two of the prison guards have been released, namely the Parepare and Takalar prisons, we are summoning them here and conducting an investigation," Suprapto, head of the Correctional Division at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in South Sulawesi, told reporters in Makassar.
He explained that the summons of the two prison heads were for internal examination of reports of alleged extortion in their respective prisons to ensure the truth.
"For the time being, we will be relieved of our duties while waiting for the truth, whether it is true or not. Since today, it has been (deactivated) until the entire examination is complete," he asserted.
The alleged extortion follows the circulation of information that an employee of the Class II B Takalar Prison with the initial E is suspected of receiving funds from the detainee's family through receipts worth Rp. 15 million to arrange for the detainee to be released from the local prison on August 17, 2022.
"We, on behalf of the ranks of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, are trying to explore this case, especially the issue of levies. Because, we have already said that there are no levies in the service. We have summoned the head of the village head office here to provide an explanation," he explained.
From the initial examination, the head of the prison concerned stated that there were no levies. But the available evidence, he said, after being traced was a nominal, but the names of people were not written, there were also witnesses, but their names were not written, as well as prison officials, even though they had signatures.
However, the existence of a signature on the receipt, whether there was a levy or not, he said, could not be used as the basis for strong evidence in legal provisions. Even if the name of a prison employee is mentioned, his party will certainly trace it carefully.
"We have seen it and have taken steps, including the call for the village chief and we will conduct an inspection. Including the name of the employee mentioned in the receipt, we will check it," he asserted.
Likewise, in the case of alleged extortion at Parepare Prison, his party has summoned the head of the prison to explain whether the problem is true or not. However, his confession stated that the information was not true.
"The Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has formed a team to investigate and deepen this case in Takalar, as well as in Parepare. We will not stop there, we will investigate people who we think are related to it," he said.
When asked if it will be proven later, whether strict sanctions will be imposed on the person concerned, Suprapto stated that sanctions will be given according to the rules, starting with heavy, medium and light sanctions.
"That's what we'll see later on the extent of the mistakes he made. For employees with the initials E, who just wanted to be examined, the team went to Takalar and one to Parepare," he explained.
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