Dutch trial 'breaches' nation-to-nation ethic: SBY

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reiterated Thursday his regret over a Dutch court's holding of a trial session on the same day he was supposed to arrive in the Netherlands, saying it breached the “ethic and conduct of nation-to-nation relationships”.

The President was supposed to leave for the Netherlands for a state visit Tuesday, but canceled in the last minutes when his entourage were already on board, following news that a Dutch district court was to hold a trial on the same day in response to a lawsuit filed by some activists of the Republic of South Maluku (RMS), an Indonesian rebel movement.

The plaintiffs demand, among others, that the Dutch government lift the Indonesian President's diplomatic immunity during his visit to the Netherlands and have him arrested on charges of human rights violations; both of which have been rejected by the court.

“It is odd that the lawsuit was filed on Oct. 4, and yet the court held the trial on Oct. 5 – only a day after. I guess it is the fastest-responding court in the world,” Yudhoyono said as he opened a Cabinet meeting on political and security affairs at the Presidential Office in Jakarta.

“And the signal sent by the trial is so wrong; it breaches the ethics and conduct of nation-to-nation relationships,” he added.

The President said he was aware the Dutch government could not possibly intervene in affairs of Dutch courts, but highlighted the fact that the visit he had planned was at the invitation of the Netherlands' Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

“The court is part of the state of the Netherlands, part of its national system; should it hold the trial to welcome me?”

“We remember when Queen Beatrix visited Indonesia in 1995 and Dutch Prime Minister Balkenende in 2006, we welcomed and treated them warmly. It is hard for me to accept that I would be welcomed instead with the trial.”