Minister says prisoner exchange deal with Australia possible

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A prisoner exchange deal between Indonesia and Australia is not out of the question as such an arrangement would be mutually beneficial, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda says.

However discussions on the issue could be time-consuming, considering the many aspects that would need to be addressed, including revisions to Indonesia's Criminal Code, which regulates that a prison term handed down by courts here is served in the country.

Hassan said on Wednesday that prisoner transfers were common between countries, and there had been requests from several foreign governments for Indonesia to enact the scheme.

The issue of repatriating criminals was raised after Australia proposed a treaty be negotiated with Indonesia following the 20- year sentence handed down last month to Australian Schapelle Corby, who was convicted in Bali of drug trafficking.

"But I can assure you that it wouldn't be a special case of transfer, for Corby alone, if the treaty was materialized. It would be applied generally and then we would need to look at the specifics, such as the nature of the crime, or how much of their sentence would need to be served before the transfer," Hassan told a hearing with House of Representatives Commission I for defense and foreign affairs.

Corby's conviction has sparked widespread outrage in Australia. The Indonesian embassy in Canberra received a package which Hassan called as "threat of terror" twice in the past week.

The minister said Australia was yet to submit any draft treaty for discussion, and no specific talks had been held so far.

Similar requests have also been made by France, Pakistan, Chile, Peru, Columbia and Argentina, among other countries, Hassan said.

"Indonesia actually needs to open the door to this kind of treaty since many of our citizens are imprisoned abroad too, including for drug trafficking. For example, two of our citizens in Peru were released after serving half their time but had to remain there.

"They cannot get a job and could be involved in another drug- related crime. It would be better if they were sent back here, even if only to complete their prison terms," Hassan said.

The minister said the enactment of such a treaty would mostly fall under the authority of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

Zulkarnaen Yusuf, the foreign ministry's director general of legal administration, recently said the government was now persuading lawmakers to approve such a treaty with Australia.

There are three Indonesian nationals serving prison terms in Australia, including one jailed for 20 years for a drug-related crime, and a number of fishermen being detained for crossing state borders illegally.

On the other hand, there are about 13 Australians imprisoned in Indonesia for various offenses, including drug abuse.

Zulkarnaen said Indonesia was studying the Australia-Thailand treaty, which enables the repatriation of convicts after serving one third of their prison terms.

During Wednesday's hearing, lawmakers in House Commission I, however, rejected any draft treaty and assured there would be no endorsement if it was only to accommodate the Corby case.

"There will be no repatriation treaty if it is to be applied in the Corby case alone. It should be applied on a general level and would take serious deliberations," said commission chairman Theo L. Sambuaga.