Hundreds of Indonesian Police Officers Storm Prison to Subdue Rioting Inmates
On Tuesday, a prison in Bali had a huge riot underway. The inmates set fire to a building and when firefighters responded to put the blaze out, the inmates threw stones at them. Hundreds of police officers arrived early Wednesday, but they did not go inside the prison. According to Ketut Untung Sayoga, who is Bali’s deputy chief of police, the police did not enter the prison until it became daylight.
As police took back control of the prison, three inmates were injured. One inmate had a wound on his leg when he was hit with a nonlethal rubber bullet. There is a separate block in the prison that is used only for housing prisoners from foreign countries. There were no foreign prisoners injured in the rioting or the subsequent police action.
The prison has some rather famous inmates. One is Schapelle Corby who is serving a 20 year sentence for smuggling in nine pounds of marijuana in 2005. Corby was an Australian beauty therapist. The Kerobokan Prison is located in the southern region of Bali. It is only a couple of miles from the Denpasar Airport, as well as a short distance from Kuta, a popular tourist destination.
The prison is now back under the control of prison officials; however, tonight it is being heavily guarded. The prison is home to 1015 inmates and there has been a decision to move the inmates to another location. According to some media sources in Bali, the prisoners will be moved by military aircraft. It appears that their destination will be Surabaya, which is actually on Java. Prison officials believe that the prison, which suffered damage in the fire, is not able to be secured now.
