Bali Nine Prisoners Ask To Move In The Aftermath Of Mary Jane's Case, The Government Is Asked To Be Careful In Making Decisions

JAKARTA - Member of Commission XIII DPR RI, Prince Khairul Saleh reminded the government to be careful in making transfers of personnel.

This was said by Prince in response to Australia's request for prisoners from Bali Nine, following the transfer decision or the transfer of drug convict Mary Jane Veloso to her home country of the Philippines.

"The request for the transfer of prisoners by various countries can create challenges for law enforcement in Indonesia," Pangeran told reporters, Friday, December 13.

As previously reported, the Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correction Yusril Izha Mahendra, has approved the transfer agreement of convict Mary Jane Veloso and will be signed by the Philippine Ministry of Justice. Once signed, the convict who is sentenced to death in a drug case will be able to serve the rest of his sentence in the Philippines.

The Government's decision to move Mary Jane to serve a sentence in her country has become the concern of various parties because Indonesia does not yet have a legal basis for this. This transfer of priority decision is only based on the agreement between the two countries or in terms of diplomacy.

The problem has not been resolved, several countries have also proposed the same thing. There are at least two other countries that have submitted considerations for the transfer of their citizens detained in Indonesia, namely France and Australia.

Pangeran assessed that without a rigid legal basis, the transfer of foreign prisoners to their home countries could be a new problem in the Indonesian legal system. "If not handled properly, this has the potential to exacerbate inequality in the justice system and reduce public confidence in legal institutions," he stressed.

Although the Government stated that transfer of personnel is possible through Law Number 22 of 2022 concerning Corrections, Pangeran reminded that the process of transferring foreign prisoners should have higher legal force. Moreover, in the law there must also be derivative rules.

"We hope that the Government is more careful in making decisions. Do not get into the constitution as the highest legal basis," Prince concluded.

To note, France requested the transfer of prisoners of its citizens who were sentenced to death in a drug case, namely Serge Atlaui. He was arrested in Indonesia in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Australian government requested the transfer of the detention of five of its citizens who are members of the Bali Nine. The Bali Nine case itself is one of the major cases where in 2005, nine Australian citizens were arrested in Bali for smuggling 8 kilograms of heroin.

Currently, the request for transfer of prisoners Serge Atlaui and 5 members of Bali Nine is still under government review. One of the considerations is the benefits that Indonesia gets with the agreement with France and Australia.