Manila proposes new deal with Jakarta on prisoner exchange

Manila proposes new deal with Jakarta on prisoner exchange

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Philippine government has proposed a new draft agreement to
Indonesia for the exchange of prisoners between the two countries
so as to allow convicts to serve their prison terms in their
respective countries of origin.

Visiting Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said on
Tuesday that the proposed draft, which would be applied to
prisoners from both countries, was different from the bilateral
extradition treaty signed in 1976.

"We submitted a draft agreement on the exchange of prisoners
to the foreign affairs ministry," Ople said after a 90-minute
meeting with his counterpart Hassan Wirayuda.

Ople declined to go into the details of the draft, but he
underlined that "this is an increasing form of cooperation being
undertaken in many countries today".

Indonesia and the Philippines have seen many bilateral cases
involving the imprisonment of their respective nationals, with
the latest case being that of Indonesian citizen Agus Dwikarna,
who was sentenced to 10-years imprisonment for illegally
possessing explosives in the Philippines.

Agus was arrested at Manila airport in March, and was later
also alleged to have links with terrorist networks operating in
Southeast Asia.

Many Indonesian Muslim groups protested the verdict and
accused the Jakarta government of not doing enough to protect
Agus' rights as a citizen.

The Philippine embassy here has frequently been the target of
fierce protests by various Muslim groups following the verdict in
Agus' case, which was handed down in May.

Earlier this month, Philippine special envoy Roberto Gonzales
held talks with a number of Muslim groups in Indonesia and
pleaded with these groups not to interfere with the Philippine
community here.

Ople said the new draft would be advantageous to both
countries in dealing with problems caused by the sentencing of
convicts like Agus and allowing them to pass their prison terms
at home close to their families.

Indonesia, however, responded coolly to the proposal, saying
that it was too early to discuss the issue as Jakarta had never
before entered into such an agreement.

"This is a new concept for us and we are going to discuss it
further with the other relevant ministries, such as the Ministry
of Justice and Human Rights," Hassan said.

He noted that there were currently 19 Philippine citizens
serving jail terms in Indonesia for various crimes, compared to
only three Indonesians serving jail terms in Manila.

"Should the proposed cooperation present advantages, we may
discuss it in the joint commission set up by the two countries,"
Hassan said.

Ople was on a two-day working visit to Indonesia, which began
on Tuesday and was scheduled to hold talks with President
Megawati Soekarnoputri and senior officials before returning home
on Wednesday.