Minister Imipas Will Susun Law On Transfer Of Prisoners

Minister of Immigration and Corrections Agus Andrianto (right) and Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin/ANTARA/Fath Putra Mulya

JAKARTA - Minister of Immigration and Corrections (Imipas) Agus Andrianto said that his party would draft a special law regarding the transfer of prisoners or transfer of priority to present a clear legal umbrella.

"Later we will tell the team to formulate a regulatory problem that will be the basis for us to be able to make a transfer of personnel," Agus said as quoted by ANTARA, Monday, November 25.

It is possible to transfer prisoners, as stipulated in Article 45 paragraph (1) of Law Number 22 of 2022 concerning Corrections. Then, Article 45 paragraph (2) of Law 22/2022 mandates that the provisions for the transfer of prisoners are regulated by law.

However, until now there has been no derivative law governing the provisions for the transfer of prisoners. Therefore, the government is currently still discussing legal aspects of the transfer of death row convict Mary Jane Veloso to her home country, Philippines.

On the other hand, Agus also revealed that the Indonesian government was reviewing requests for the transfer of prisoners other than from the Philippine Government, namely from the French Government for one inmate and the Australian Government for five inmates.

"We will find out what the best solution is. Of course, there must be a mutual agreement between one country and another. Because if not, we will transfer there, hopefully we will also get the same thing for Indonesian citizens. This is still under discussion," said Agus.

Previously, Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra said it was possible that the government and the DPR would draft a law on transfer of PRISONers and exchange of PRISONers.

"It is very possible that later talks will be carried out with the DPR to formulate a law on transfer of individuals and exchange of passengers, which is actually mandated by our current Correctional Law, but there is no law yet," said Yusril in a video statement, Thursday (21/11).

Coordinating Minister Yusril acknowledged that Indonesia does not yet have a special law to regulate the transfer of prisoners from foreign nationals. However, the transfer of prisoners can be carried out based on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Problems (MLA), agreement of the parties, and discretion of the President.

"So even though it is not based on a statutory regulation, it is based on MLA, agreements from the parties, and also discretion from the President," said Yusril.