Indonesian police patrol maximum security prison Nusa Kambangan in Cilacap, Central Java province, on January 16, 2015 prior to the scheduled execution of drug convicts on January 18. PHOTO: Dida Nuswantara/AFP
Hundreds of people have reportedly learned the hard way that Nusakambangan prison island in Central Java is not the next tourist destination.
Nusakambangan, dubbed “death island,” has awakened the curiosity of the locals with all the hype it’s getting for being the selected execution site for Bali Nine Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
According to the Jakarta Post, hundreds of people have showed up at Wijaya Pura Pier close to the prison island in the last few weeks to check out the scene.
“We hear about the executions in the news every day, so we’ve grown curious about how they will be conducted,” Rohimah, 34, of South Cilacap, said as quoted by the Jakarta Post.
She apparently had no idea that neither the public nor the media get visit the island.
“I thought I could get a peek of the prison and the location where the firing squad will carry out the executions,” Rohimah said.
There are around 1,500 high-profile prisoners sentenced to a minimum of five years in Nusakambangan.
With all the curious onlookers coming to the pier, the entry point to the prison, reports say security has been beefed up, with an increased amount of local police deployed.
Before these headlining executions, apparently visitors could enter Nusakambangan to go to Permisan Beach until 6 pm, but that option’s no longer.
Head of Central Java Corrections Ahmad Yuspahruddin has told the media that he hopes to keep the time minimal that the Bali Nine pair are in Nusakambangan before their executions, to mitigate unrest among the other prisoners.
Though the Australian pair was originally supposed to be transferred from Bali’s Kerobokan Prison last week, a postponement has bought them some more time on Bali. There has yet to be an official statement about when the pair will actually be moved, but people are getting anxious with the recent arrival of Indonesian military fighter jets to Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar.
