Jakarta ( WNAM MONITORING): The Indonesian government has agreed to finalize the Bill on Transfers of Prisoners Between Countries, in response to the growing number of transfer requests from various nations.
“We have agreed to finalize the bill and propose it to the President,” Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra said here on Tuesday.
The bill was finalized during an inter-ministerial meeting attended by representatives from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among others.
Mahendra explained that the government had previously discussed similar bills in 2016, namely the Bill on Prisoner Transfers and the Bill on Prisoner Exchanges.
The new bill refers to several international conventions ratified by Indonesia, including the Palermo Convention, or the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
According to Mahendra, requests for prisoner transfers continue to rise. Some Indonesians serving sentences abroad have also asked to be transferred back to Indonesia.
Currently, Indonesia has no specific law regulating prisoner transfers. So far, the government has handled them through practical arrangements.
Indonesia has approved requests from Australia, the Philippines, and France. Lately, the requests continued to increase, including those from the UK, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Brazil, and Spain.
“The Philippines has also submitted another request. We have reviewed it, but no decision has been made,” Mahendra said.
He confirmed that an Indonesian sentenced to life in prison in the Philippines for a terrorism case has asked to be transferred to Indonesia, and the request is under discussion.
Mahendra added that the Bill on Transfers of Prisoners Between Countries is expected to be brought before parliament in late 2025.
