Indonesia opens its first prison for corruption crimes

Indonesia’s justice minister announced Tuesday the opening of a prison wing intended to confine individuals convicted of corruption….The wing was added to alleviate overcrowding in the Indonesian prison system and was also in response to criticism that wealthy prisoners are permitted to live in luxury. Anti-corruption reform has been one of the primary concerns of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and the opening of the prison wing highlights corruption concerns in the civilian and military branches of the government.

I think this is a great example of how the law can be used to fight corruption and white-collar crime. In a book I’ve been reading, called “The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Get Prison,” the author, Jeffrey Reiman, argues fervently that poor people are disproportionately locked up for crimes like nonviolent drug offenses, while the rich who engage in corruption and white collar crime – which often costs individuals, companies, and governments millions if not billions of dollars – often get off with far less severe sentences because they have access to high-quality counsel. Even if you compare a violent crime against one individual to a corporate crime such as corruption or embezzlement, the corporate crime often causes far more widespread economic damage.

White-collar criminals should be subject to the same laws and penalties because corruption is a serious crime that adversely affects individuals and economies. Yet, we as a society tend to consider violent crime by poor people to be far more threatening than economic crimes. White-collar crimes committed by the wealthy are often looked upon as far less severe. These conceptions have to change if the criminal justice system is to be more fair and equitable around the world.

That’s why I think Indonesia’s focus on treating white-collar and wealthy offenders the same as poorer individuals who commit crimes is commendable. Disparities in sentencing due to socioeconomic status are not only unjust and unfair, but also fail to deter crimes in an effective manner; such disparities need to be seriously addressed, and reforms like this are a good step towards justice sector reform.

http://www.tariqwest.com/ Tariq West

Interesting. Agreed, that white-collar criminals should be served penalties commensurate with the material damage they've inflicted+damage to social fabric of society. I'm wondering though whether having a “corruption crimes” wing of a prison does that. It seems like they are setting them apart from the general prison population, kind of like how American corporate convicts make their way into cushy (by comparison with other prisons), minimum-security joints.
http://akhilak.com/blog Akhila

I think that's a good point, however I think this current prison has been created in order to reduce the lives of luxury that white collar criminals have previously been used to in prison. This prison provides similar conditions to the regular prison, which is a large improvement over the situation up til now. For instance:

“In January, Indonesians were outraged when a presidential anti-graft task force discovered that Artalyta Suryani, a businesswoman convicted of bribing a prosecutor, had a private prison cell with a queen-sized bed, TV set and air conditioner, as well as access to a karaoke room. ” (Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar…).

So, this new prison definitely won't have such amenities and luxuries for the white collar inmates.

I think the reasoning of the Indonesian government in doing this is that white collar criminals might be under safety risk if they are housed in the regular prison. Maybe there would be a backlash & violence against them (due to their wealth) from the regular prison population?

However, I do agree that going a step forward will be even better – they should house white collar criminals along with the general prison population.
http://www.tariqwest.com/ Tariq West

Thanks for the additional info, it does sound like they are on the right track.
http://akhilak.com/blog Akhila

Thanks again for the comment!