Jakarta – Papuan activists and former political prisoner (tapol) Surya Anta has revealed that his first upload from a series of tweets (thread) on conditions at the Salemba prison in Central Jakarta posted on his Twitter social media account has suddenly disappeared.
“My first tweet from the earlier thread has disappeared. Who knows why. My first tweet was deleted. The story about when we first went into Salemba prison”, said Anta through a tweet on his Twitter account on Monday July 13.
Not only that, Anta said that the series of tweets which were summarised under the thread read was also removed or taken down. “This also got taken down... the state panicked, OMG [Oh My God]”, said Anta in his following tweet on Monday afternoon.
As a result, Anta said he has reposted the tweet along with the first thread that was removed. He has also pinned the tweet so it stays at the top.
“I retweeted my thread along with the first tweet which was taken down. Hopefully the story will help bring reform...”, he said.
Earlier, Anta had related a story about the conditions at the Salemba prison based on his experience serving time after being sentenced to nine months jail in August for makar (treason, subversion, rebellion).
The story was posted in a series of tweets on his Twitter account @Suryaanta.
Meanwhile in his follow up thread, Anta explained that the problems in correctional institutions or prisons are problems that have to be resolved from top to bottom, not just by the prison operators.
“Once again. The problem of over capacity is a problem from top to bottom. Problems with the law enforcement system, the orientation of law enforcement and the mentality of law enforcement officials (APH), the police, the attorney general, the courts/judiciary/judges and correctional institutions/prisons. Prison inmates are humans [too] not just criminals”, he said.
Not only that, Anta also expressed his appreciation of the Salemba prison warden who carried out a number of improvements such as emptying out the isolation block, expanding the clinic, improving accommodation and also closing down (locking down) Salemba sooner than other prisons.
“The karutan [prison warden] also helped by pushing so our sentencing document was quickly dealt with by the kejari [state prosecutor] and PN [district court]. So the next day the prison registration bureau got a phone call from the central [government] to cancel our assimilation [release]. Because we were prisoners convicted of makar. He was serious about confirming the rights of political prisoners. I appreciate that”, said Anta.
When sought for confirmation by CNN Indonesia on Sunday July 12, Anta’s lawyer Suarbudaya Rahardian confirmed that the Twitter account belongs to his client.
There has not however been a confirmation from Twitter about the disappearance of Anta’s first posting from his social media account.
In relation to the prison conditions raised by Anta, Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H Laoly said that he has already ordered his staff to check on the truth of the former Papuan political prisoners’ statements.
“I don’t know yet if its’ true or not. I have ordered that it be looked into”, said Laoly at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Monday. Laoly was reluctant to comment further about the atrocious conditions at the prison. (kid/sur)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Surya Anta Ungkap Twit soal Rutan Salemba Kena Take Down”.]
