REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had instructed all penitentiaries in Indonesia to tighten security, after two jailbreak cases at Tanjung Gusta penitentiary of Medan in North Sumatra and Baloi Batam penitentiary in Riau Islands.
"President has instructed all relevant ministries, especially Coordinating Ministry of Politic, Legal, and Security Affairs to improve its monitoring. Inmates escape in Medan and Batam prisons are unexpected incidents," Pasha said on Friday.
President also has instructed police to capture and return the escaped inmates into the jails. He plans to conduct an evaluation related to penitentiary policy in Indonesia.
Chief of National Intelligence Agency (BIN), Lieutenant General Marciano Norman said cases in Batam and Medan were two wake up callings.
At least 212 inmates escaped from 1st Class' Prison of Medan. Then, it was followed by the escape of nine inmates from Baloi Batam Prison on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. All of them were inmates convicted gulty in narcotic cases.