The Government Will Restore Drug Convicts Sentenced To Death From The Netherlands

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correction Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the Indonesian government would repatriate two prisoners from the Netherlands at the request of the local government.

The two prisoners who will be transferred are death row convicts and life convicts in narcotics cases. Both were repatriated based on an official request from the Dutch government addressed to President Prabowo Subianto.

"The Indonesian government has reached a green light (green light) to return them to their country," said Yusril after receiving a visit from Dutch Foreign Minister David Van Weel as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, October 9.

The Indonesian government, he said, was considering a number of humanitarian aspects so that it decided to repatriate the two inmates. According to Yusril, the two inmates are elderly.

He explained that the death row convict from the Netherlands was 73 years old who had not been executed and is now languishing in Cipinang Class I Prison, Jakarta.

"The person is a bit sick and the Dutch government is worried about the person concerned," he said.

Meanwhile, the convict who will be sent back to the Netherlands is now 64 years old. Because he was sentenced to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, he has the potential to languish forever in an Indonesian correctional institution.

The repatriation of prisoners from the country of the mill will adopt the same mechanism as the repatriation of a number of previous foreign prisoners from the Philippines, Australia, and France.

According to Yusril, the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands are currently drafting a technical agreement to repatriate the two prisoners. However, Yusril has not disclosed when the repatriation will be carried out.

"Hopefully in the near future it will be agreed ... And usually in less than two weeks after the signed agreement is handed over to the state government concerned to bring it back to its country," he said.

Coordinating Minister Yusril explained that the repatriation of prisoners did not change the Indonesian court's decision. However, after the prisoners were repatriated, the coaching task became the full authority of the country concerned.

"Will forgiveness be given, will remission, clemency, etc. be given entirely the responsibility of the Dutch government," he said.

In the short bilateral meeting, apart from discussing the repatriation of prisoners, the Indonesian and Dutch governments also discussed legal cooperation between the two countries.

According to Yusril, although Indonesia and the Netherlands have a long history of law, until now there has been no specific agreement between the two regarding extradition and mutual legal assistance (MLA).

"The Dutch Foreign Minister agreed that we must immediately discuss and discuss cooperation, agreements in the field of extradition and agreements in the field of reciprocal legal aid, including later when we have finished discussing laws on transfer of individuals and exchange of prisoners, we will also discuss one exchange agreement and return of prisoners between Indonesia and the Netherlands," said Yusril.