France And Australia Also Submit Requests For Repatriation Of Prisoners

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections (Kumham Imipas) Yusril Ihza Mahendra said France and Australia submitted a request to transfer their citizen prisoners from Indonesia.

"We are currently processing everything and considering it. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, this policy can be implemented. Mr. President Prabowo Subianto has agreed to these steps," said Yusril as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, November 20.

For Australia, Yusril explained that the request was submitted by Australian Prime Minister to President Prabowo Subianto during a meeting in Peru during a session of Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Countries (APEC) some time ago.

Meanwhile, the request for the transfer of prisoners from France, he continued, came from a letter from the French Minister of Justice, which coincided with the inclusion of a letter from the Philippine Minister of Justice to remove the death row convict of narcotics smuggling case Mary Jane Veloso.

Currently, the ministers who are under the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry (Kemenko) for Kumham Imipas have also discussed the issue of transferring foreign prisoners (WNA) with Indonesian President Prabowo.

"God willing, in December this policy can be implemented so that this process runs," he said.

According to Yusril, in Indonesia quite a number of foreigners are sentenced to various types of sentences, ranging from limited prison sentences, life imprisonment, to the death penalty.

One of the convicts of foreigners in Indonesia, namely Mary Jane Veloso, has now been agreed to be transferred and punished in her home country, namely the Philippines.

In Indonesia, Mary Jane has been sentenced to death. However, when transferred to the Philippines later, she said, Mary Jane's sentence would be adjusted to the legal provisions there because the Philippines is a country that has abolished the death penalty.

"If the President of the Philippines will grant clemency, for example, converting the death penalty to life imprisonment, Mary Jane will serve a life sentence in the Philippines based on the Indonesian court's decision," Yusril explained.

Mary Jane is a Filipino citizen who was sentenced to death by the Sleman District Court, Yogyakarta, in 2010 to a narcotics case.