Indonesian police yesterday hunted for about 100 inmates, including militants, who escaped from an overcrowded jail after setting the prison ablaze in riots that left five dead.
The inmates began rampaging through the jail in Medan City on Sumatra Island on Thursday afternoon, setting fires and hurling bottles at guards in anger over power cuts and water shortages at the facility.
The Tanjung Gusta jail was engulfed in towering flames and scores of firefighters battled through the night to douse them.
About 150 prisoners initially escaped and police and soldiers were on yesterday still desperately hunting for about 100 after recapturing several dozen overnight.
Prisoners are often held in grim, overcrowded jails in Indonesia, and Tanjung Gusta is no exception as it currently holds more than double its official capacity of 1,054.
The prisoners were still in control of the jail early yesterday, casually chatting outside their cells while heavily armed security forces formed a cordon round the building, a reporter at the scene said.
They allowed in about two dozen soldiers, but did not let police enter, the reporter said.
“We don’t like police, they are inhumane, they frequently beat us,” one of the prisoners shouted, as another waved a charred gun and handcuffs at officers.
North Sumatra Province police spokesman Heru Prakoso said that prisoners and a government official would hold talks later in the day in a bid to break the standoff.
“Seven inmates will represent the prisoners and will negotiate later today with a senior official of the justice and human rights ministry,” he said.
Five people — three prisoners and two prison staff — had been killed in the riots, he added.
The two prison staff died trapped in their burning office, said Denny Indrayana, coordinating deputy minister for politics, legal and security.
“They were collating prisoner data on remission, which was to be given on Independence Day, Aug. 17,” he said.
About 1,000 police and soldiers were deployed to guard the facility and undertake a massive hunt around the area yesterday to try and find prisoners still on the loose.
They included six people convicted of terrorism, Prakoso said.
The prison had been holding a total of 11 terror convicts, he said.
Some were jailed for their involvement in militant training at a camp in Aceh Province where, police say, militants were planning Mumbai-style gun attacks on high-profile Indonesians.
The others were connected with a bank robbery to fund terror activities and the killings of police officers, police said.
The prison had been guarded by civilians and not police, he added.
Indonesian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights spokesman Goncang Raharjo said that Tanjung Gusta was overcrowded.
“The prison capacity is only 1,054, but it now holds about 2,600 convicts and suspects on trials,” he said. “Most prisons across the country have this problem.”
The Indonesian Minister for Politics, Legal and Security Djoko Suyanto said the riots were a call to action on the nationwide problem of overcrowded prisons.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was