The Long Journey Of RI-Singapore Extradition Process, Started In 1998 And Signed By Minister Yasonna In Bintan

Photo via BPMI Setpres

JAKARTA - Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna H. Laoly signed the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement, 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.

"This extradition agreement will create a deterrence effect for criminals in Indonesia and Singapore," said the Professor of Criminology at the Police College, Tuesday, January 25.

The types of criminal acts whose perpetrators can be extradited according to this Extradition Agreement are 31 types. Starting from corruption, money laundering, bribery, banking, narcotics, terrorism, and financing activities related to terrorism.

The Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Treaty was finally signed after the Indonesian government had started working on it since 1998.

Like this the long journey of the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement until it was signed by Yasonna Laoly and witnessed by President Joko Widodo and the Prime Minister of Singapore, in Bintan, Riau Islands.

Photo via BPMI Setpres

1. Efforts to establish the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement have been initiated by the Government of Indonesia since 1998 at every opportunity, both in bilateral and regional meetings with the Government of Singapore.

2. On December 16, 2002, at the Bogor Palace, the President of the Republic of Indonesia Megawati Soekarnoputri and the Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Thong held a bilateral meeting to discuss matters related to the development of cooperation between the two countries in all fields. One of the results of the meeting was the agreement that Indonesia and Singapore would draw up an action plan for the establishment of the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Treaty.

3. On 27 April 2007, at the Tampaksiring Palace, Bali, Indonesia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia (Hasan Wirajuda) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore (George Yeo) signed the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement witnessed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Prime Minister Singaporean Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

4. The Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Treaty signed in 2007 cannot be enforced by the two countries because the Governments of Indonesia and Singapore have not ratified the Treaty.

Note: The reason the two countries have not ratified the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Treaty is because the Governments of Indonesia and Singapore agreed that the ratification of the Extradition Treaty be carried out in parallel with the ratification of the Indonesia-Singapore Security Cooperation Agreement. In its development, Commission I of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia for the period of 2004-2009 in a Working Meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs on June 25, 2007, refused to ratify the Security Cooperation Agreement which had been signed so that it had an impact on the ratification process of the Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Treaty.

Photo via BPMI Setpres

5. On October 8, 2019, the Indonesia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat was held to discuss again the Agreement on Adjustment of the Indonesia-Singapore Flight Information Area Boundary (Realignment Flight Information Region/FIR) and the Security Cooperation Agreement.

The Leaders' Retreat is an annual meeting between the President of Indonesia and the Prime Minister of Singapore to discuss mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Leaders' Retreat started in 2016 until now.

6. Following up on the results of the 2019 Leaders' Retreat, the Minister of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia then proposed that the Extradition Treaty which was paralleled from the beginning with the Security Cooperation Agreement was also re-discussed in the framework for discussion.

7. After conducting correspondence, consultations and negotiations, on October 22, 2021, the Government of Singapore accepted the Indonesian proposal mentioned above.

8. The Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement was signed in Bintan, Riau Islands, on January 25, 2022.