RI-Singapore Extradition Treaty Makes Corruptors Afraid To Drug Dealers, Retracts From 18 Years Back

JAKARTA - Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna H. Laoly signed the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Treaty, in Bintan, Riau Islands. The agreement is useful for preventing and eradicating criminal acts that are cross-border in nature, such as corruption, narcotics, and terrorism.

Yasonna explained that the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement has a retroactive period (retroactive from the date of promulgation) for the past 18 years. This is in accordance with the provisions on the maximum expiration as stipulated in Article 78 of the Indonesian Criminal Code.

"In addition to the retroactive period, this Extradition Agreement also agrees that the determination of the nationality of the perpetrator of a crime is determined at the time the crime is committed. This is to prevent the privileges that may arise due to the change of citizenship of the perpetrator of a crime in order to avoid legal proceedings against him," Yasonna explained after the signing. The Extradition Agreement, Tuesday, January 25.

The Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement was finally signed after efforts by the Indonesian government began in 1998. There are 31 types of criminal acts whose perpetrators can be extradited according to this Extradition Agreement, including corruption, money laundering, bribery, banking, narcotics, terrorism, and financing activities related to terrorism.

“Indonesia has also succeeded in convincing Singapore to agree on an Extradition Treaty that is progressive, flexible, and anticipatory towards the current and future developments, forms and modes of criminal acts. The Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement allows both countries to extradite criminals who, although the types of crimes are not explicitly stated in this agreement, have been regulated in the legal systems of the two countries," said the Professor of Criminology at the Police College.

The signing of the Extradition Agreement was carried out at the Leaders' Retreat, which is an annual meeting that began in 2016 between the President of the Republic of Indonesia and the Prime Minister of Singapore to discuss mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

The Leaders' Retreat was originally scheduled to be held in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this activity could only be held on January 25, 2022 in Bintan, Riau Islands.

During the meeting, the President of Indonesia and the PM of Singapore witnessed the signing of 15 strategic cooperation documents in the political, legal, security, economic, and socio-cultural fields including: Agreement on Adjustment of FIR, Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement, Joint Statement of Defense Ministers of Indonesia and Singapore on the Agreement to enforce the 2007 Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA MINDEF Joint Statement).

In addition to the three agreement documents, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of the Republic of Indonesia and the Senior Minister/Coordinating Minister for National Security in Singapore also exchanged letters which will become the framework for the implementation of the three strategic cooperation documents between Indonesia and Singapore.

Yasonna explained that the scope of the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement is that both countries agree to extradite any person found to be in the territory of the requested country and sought by the requesting country for prosecution or trial or execution of punishment for extraditable criminal acts.

"This extradition agreement will create a deterrence effect for perpetrators of criminal acts in Indonesia and Singapore," said the Head of the Legal, Human Rights and Legislation Division of the PDI-P DPP.

In addition, continued Yasonna, the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement will narrow the space for criminals in Indonesia to escape. This is because Indonesia already has agreements with partner countries in the region, including Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, the Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of China, and Hong Kong SAR.

In particular, for Indonesia, the enactment of the Extradition Agreement can effectively reach perpetrators of past crimes and facilitate the implementation of Presidential Decree No. 6 of 2021 concerning the Task Force for Handling State Collection Rights for Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance Funds.