Australia feared to become haven for RI's criminals

Claire Harvey and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra expressed fear on Wednesday that Australia could become a haven for Indonesian criminals if the country fails to expedite its extradition procedures.

"Learning that the extradition process can take years there, suspected criminals might opt to flee to Australia," Yusril said during a joint media conference with visiting Australian Attorney General Daryl Williams.

Yusril made the remarks in response to Australia's slow response to Indonesia's call to extradite fugitive banker Hendra Rahardja.

Williams said he was unable to intervene in Hendra's case while it was still before the courts.

The Australian government is powerless to speed up the extradition of Hendra, Williams said.

But Canberra will consider changing the law to make future extraditions easier, he said after meeting with Yusril.

"We discussed different processes in Indonesia and Australia and we agreed we would look at the different processes to see whether there is any way they can be amended to make them more compatible," Williams said.

"We did not consider any particular changes."

Hendra, an Australian resident, has been on the run since November 1997, when he fled Indonesia after the collapse of his two banks.

Bank Harapan Sentosa and Bank Guna International were liquidated by the Indonesian government, and were reported to have assets of Rp 4.7 trillion.

Hendra is the brother of Eddy Tanzil, the owner of the now- defunct PT Golden Key Group, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail in a corruption case involving Rp 1.3 trillion. Eddy fled prison after two years in May 1996 and has yet to be recaptured.

Hendra was arrested at Sydney airport in June 1999, after arriving on a flight from Hong Kong. Since his arrest, Hendra has been fighting extradition through the Australian courts.

Australia has been unable to send Hendra to Indonesia, even though a lower court ruled in 1999 that Hendra could be extradited to face investigation.

Indonesian prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for Hendra at the Central Jakarta District Court, where he and two other former bank owners are being tried in absentia for allegedly misappropriating Rp 1.95 trillion.

Hendra appealed the Australian lower court's ruling and the case is now in the hands of Australia's Ministry of Justice. The authorities are awaiting a final decision by the courts before returning Hendra to Indonesian custody.

"We have heard the Indonesian government's concerns about the time that the processes take," Williams said.

"The Australian government is very supportive of Indonesia to counter corruption, we are very supportive of the extradition processes between our two countries, we don't want to do anything to suggest we are not."

"We will look to see whether there are any processes that could be smoothed out that might make the processes quicker. But you will understand that it is a matter of Australian law and the Australian law applies not only to Indonesia but to extradition to anywhere in the world."

"It involves the courts and the executive government -- it's different from Indonesia and it has the potential to take a little bit longer."

Yusril said Williams had responded satisfactorily to Indonesian's request for a speedier extradition process.

"When Australia asked us to extradite one of its nationals suspected of committing a crime while he was in Bali, we expedited the process by deporting him," Yusril added.