18 Runaways Back in Labuhan Ruku Jail

Jakarta (Antara) - Police have reported that 18 among the 30 prison inmates who had escaped after Labuhan Ruku penitentiary in North Sumatra was struck by riots and fire on Sunday evening are back at the penitentiary. "Only three of the 18 prisoners voluntarily surrendered at the Labuhan Ruku penitentiary; the other 15 were captured," said Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie, Head of Public Relations Division of the National Police Headquarters, here on Monday. However, he continued, the remaining 12 inmates are still at large and are expected to surrender voluntarily. According to Ronny, none of the escapees were convicted for terrorism offences; they were doing time for either drug-related or other criminal offences. In order to prevent such escapes from recurring, the national police has deployed an additional 350 personnel to secure the prison. Ronny has also called on the chiefs of penitentiaries to examine and evaluate the conditions in which the prison inmates live, as part of efforts to prevent situations that might lead to riots. Earlier, Amran Silalahi, the head of Jail Division of North Sumatra¿s office under the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, had reported that the prisoners escaped after scaling down the prison wall. He noted that the wall was only about 2.80 meters high, due to which the inmates could easily escape when the fire and riot broke out. "The causes of the riot and fire are still under investigation," he said. Although the Labuhan Ruku prison has a capacity of 250, it houses some 874 inmates. (*)