RI, Spore renegotiate extradition treaty in Bogor

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono managed to raise talks about repatriation of corruptors and recovery of their assets when he met with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Bogor Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday.According to Yudhoyono, Lee was open to the possibility of kicking off another round of talks concerning asset recovery as well as the extradition treaty which has failed to take effect since both countries signed it in 2007.
“I told Prime Minister Lee that the cooperation on extradition and defense was suddenly discontinued due to the escalating political tension here in Indonesia, particularly in 2009. I told him, this is the right time to talk about it again because it will bring real benefits for Singapore, Indonesia and the region,” President Yudhoyono told the press after the bilateral meeting.
“For your information, it was not possible at the time the treaty was signed. There were numerous comments and many issues related to it that had surfaced. But this time, we should start over with good intentions,” he added.
“Singapore’s response was actually good and they were open to it whenever we are ready to renegotiate with a better approach. My hope is that the political support from our country is also strong so we can reach what we have been expecting,” the President said.
Singapore has been known as a clean country with an outstanding anti-corruption record, “thus, it will definitely be good if this treaty can be kicked off soon,” Yudhoyono said. “The world will also learn that Singapore can play an important role bilaterally and regionally in such cooperation.”
Indonesia and Singapore signed an extradition treaty in 2007 that would have enabled Indonesian law enforcement officers to go after dozens of corruption suspects who had sought refuge in the city-state, along with another agreement on defense that would have granted both countries the right to conduct naval and air military training in each other’s territories.
Indonesia’s lawmakers, however, rejected ratification, saying the agreements favored Singapore and could compromise Indonesia’s security.
Political parties complained about Singapore’s request put under the Defense Cooperation Agreement to be allowed to conduct military training within Indonesian territory near the Riau Island Province in exchange for the extradition treaty.
In September 2011, however, Singapore’s Minister of State for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Masagos Zulkifli said the 2007 agreement was final with Singapore having ratified it despite the difficulties the Indonesian government had experienced in securing approval from the House of Representatives.
Zulkifli stressed that Singapore would never make it a subject for renegotiation because that would set a poor precedent for the country in the eyes of the international community.
Indonesia, regularly listed as one of the world’s most corrupt nations, has not been able to persuade Singapore to agree to help it retrieve billions of dollars of state money allegedly stashed in the city state by Indonesian criminals.
Observers and activists have dubbed Singapore as a safe haven for corrupted Indonesian money.
A prime example is graft convict Gayus H. Tambunan, a former tax official who allegedly deposited large amounts of money in Singapore before he was arrested in 2010.
Graft defendant and former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin also reportedly kept ill-gotten assets in Singapore.
According to Indonesia Corruption Watch, as many as 45 people linked to graft cases have fled overseas during the past 10 years, with 20 choosing Singapore as their destination.
The list includes Djoko Soegiarto Tjandra, a businessman convicted of receiving Rp 546 billion (US$60 million) in state funds linked to the Bank Bali bailout in 1999.
The Bogor meeting was the two leaders’ second “retreat” after the first was held in Singapore in 2010.

Source : The Jakarta Post