Serial wanderer Gayus may be sent to prison island

The Jakarta Post, 13 Oct 2015,


Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H Laoly has said that his office is seriously considering moving graft convict Gayus Halomoan Tambunan from his maximum security prison in Bogor, West Java, to the prison island of Nusa Kambangan, Central Java.

Gayus was moved from Sukamiskin prison in Bandung to Gunung Sindur prison in Bogor recently, after being spotted outside of prison at a restaurant with two women. A photo of Gayus at the restaurant and another photo that appears to show Gayus driving a car were shared on social media.

“I have instructed West Java’s ministry office to look into [a relocation to Nusa Kambangan] quickly,” Yasona said as reported by tribunnews.com on Tuesday. “The probability of [his being relocated] is 70 percent,”

A netizen on the Kompasiana forum who calls herself Tante Liza posted a photo on Nov. 9 with the caption: “Gayus drives a car with women.” Liza claimed that the photo was taken on the same day that Gayus was seen at the restaurant. This claim was supported by Gayus’ jacket, which was the same one he was photographed wearing at the restaurant.

Gayus has left the prison before, in Nov. 2010, while the trial of his case was still ongoing at the South Jakarta District Court. On that occasion, Kompas daily published a photo of him watching a 2010 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions tennis match in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Gayus was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a number of corruption and money laundering offences.



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