House ratifies extradition treaty with South Korea

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 09/26/2007 3:21 PM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives on Tuesday ratified an extradition treaty between Indonesia and South Korea, saying the new law would protect the interests of both countries.

""We hope that passing the bill into law will make people think twice before doing something illegal in Indonesia, as well as in South Korea,"" Golkar Party representative Aziz Syamsudin said during a House plenary meeting.

The Indonesian government began strengthening its relationship with South Korea when president Abdurrahman Wahid attended the Asian-European Meeting in Seoul in October 2000.

The two governments later signed a working treaty to prepare a new law that would benefit both Indonesia and South Korea.

Indonesia has previously ratified extradition treaties with Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia and Thailand.

It is still working on extradition treaties with Canada and China.

Legislators are also debating whether to ratify an extradition treaty with Singapore.

Legislator Gayus Lumbuun from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), however, warned against potential bias in the future implementation of the new law.

""House members must clearly define every chapter in implementing the law, because we want the new law to become our guideline in improving cooperation with South Korea,"" he said.

The extradition treaty between Indonesia and South Korea will be published in three languages: Indonesian, Korean and English.

A House member from the Democratic Party, Daday Hudaya, said the government must supervise the implementation of the law to ensure Indonesia properly benefits.

""If this law turns out not to benefit the nation, we will consider canceling it immediately,"" he said.

Anyone can challenge the constitutionality of a law by filing for a judicial review by the Constitutional Court.

Acting Justice Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the government believed this was the right time for Indonesia and South Korea to boost cooperation because of growing business and investment ties.

""The government sees this law endorsement as a manifestation of the trust Korea has in Indonesia, therefore we must protect this mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries with this extradition law,"" he said.

In 2006, Tempointeraktif reported that South Korea's investment in Indonesia had increased from US$13.5 billion in 2005 to around US$512.8 billion in just the first semester of 2006.

There are around 1,200 Korean-owned companies in Indonesia, while around 500,000 Indonesians are working in South Korea.

Executive director of the Center for East Asian Cooperation Studies at the University of Indonesia, Makmur Keliat, said he appreciated the government's efforts to protect the bilateral relationship, saying this new law would play an important role for many years to come.

Emerson Yuntho of Indonesian Corruption Watch, however, doubted the usefulness of the new law because there was no record of Indonesian embezzlers having fled to South Korea with their stolen money. (10)

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