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PNG making no move to ratify extradition treaty: Ex-ambassador
The Papua New Guinean government has yet to make any move to ratify an extradition treaty that would allow Indonesian fugitive Djoko Tjandra, who was involved in a controversial scandal, the former Indonesian ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Andreas Sitepu, said on Friday
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he Papua New Guinean government has yet to make any move to ratify an extradition treaty that would allow Indonesian fugitive Djoko Tjandra, who was involved in a controversial scandal, the former Indonesian ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Andreas Sitepu, said on Friday.
The House of Representatives, on the other hand, ratified extradition treaties with both PNG and Vietnam in February.
"The Papua New Guinea government has not ratified the extradition treaty with Indonesia. They need to settle that before we proceed to the next step," Andreas, who served as the ambassador in PNG from 2010 to 2014, said in Jakarta.
He stated that the government has its own agenda and they might not have made the case a priority, but he applauded the progress on Indonesia's part.
Indonesia has been trying to capitalize on its good diplomatic relations with the neighboring country to lobby for the return of the fraud convict as the country previously had no extradition treaty with PNG.
Djoko was convicted of misusing Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) funds in a Bank Bali case, causing Rp 546 billion (US$41.5 million) in state losses. He fled as a fugitive to PNG the day before the Supreme Court sentenced him to prison for fraud in 2009.
Djoko has also reportedly secured PNG citizenship.
Andreas said that Indonesia's relation with PNG officials would play a big part on the length of time it took for the treaty to be ratified.
"This is a parliamentary problem. Indonesian lawmakers have visited PNG and PNG lawmakers also wanted to pay a visit here. I think that kind of move will expedite the understanding. The visit would answer the questions they have and affect the speed of their process to make a decision," he said. (fsu)(++++)
