Coordinating Minister Yusril Calls 2 Prisoners Returned To England After Technical Meeting

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correction Yusril Ihza Mahendra said two narcotics convicts, Lindsay June Sandiford and Shahab Shahabadi, would be repatriated to England after a technical meeting for repatriation was held on Thursday (23/10).

In a technical meeting, said Yusril, it was discussed about the technical handover of the repatriation of prisoners and who would escort the prisoners to their home country, which is the responsibility of the British government.

"The agreement has been signed today, the agreement is today, and it remains only to regulate technical implementation in the field which may be implemented in the not too distant future," Yusril said at a press conference reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, October 21.

Based on previous experience, he revealed that usually the distance between signing an agreement with the repatriation of prisoners is not too far away, which is about 2 weeks.

He explained that the process of repatriating the two inmates to England was the same as what was done when they repatriated Filipino, Australian and French prisoners some time ago.

At that time, said Yusril, there were no obstacles in the field because all financing for repatriation of prisoners was borne by the state concerned.

When the technical meeting has been held, Yusril said that the process of handing over prisoners at the airport with the British government will be carried out.

He said Shahab's handover would be carried out by the Indonesian Ministry of Immigration and Corrections, while Lindsay's handover would be carried out by the Indonesian Attorney General's Office considering Lindsay was sentenced to death and had not yet been executed in Indonesia.

"This is also in accordance with the direction of the President, we are implementing this and hopefully there will be no obstacles to its implementation in the not too distant future," he said.

The Coordinating Minister said the British government had thanked the Indonesian government, especially President Prabowo Subianto, for allowing the return of the prisoner.

Yusril emphasized that the transfer of two prisoners to the UK is reciprocal, meaning that if an Indonesian prisoner is detained in the UK, then he can be asked to be returned to Indonesia and the British government must consider the request.

"So we have started something, they will certainly consider the application if there is a request. But until now the Indonesian government has not made any requests," said the Coordinating Minister.

Lindsay, 68, has served his sentence since May 25, 2012 at the Class IIA Women's Correctional Institution Kerobokan, Bali, with a death penalty. He suffers from type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension, and has been in a declining health condition.

Meanwhile, 35-year-old Shahab has been detained since June 26, 2014 at the Class IIA Kembangkuning Prison, Nusakambangan, Central Java, with a life sentence. He has skin diseases in subcutaneous tissue and mental disorders.