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.