"The team will draft the regulation as the basis for prisoner transfer," he informed in Jakarta on Monday.
Prisoner transfers are regulated by Article 45 paragraph (1) of Law Number 22 of 2022 concerning Corrections. And, Article 45 paragraph (2) of the law mandates that the provisions for the transfer of prisoners are regulated by law. However, there is no derivative law regulating those provisions.
Therefore, the government is currently discussing the legal aspects of the transfer of a convict serving the death row in a drug smuggling case, Mary Jane Veloso, to her home country, the Philippines.
Andrianto said that the Indonesian government is reviewing requests for prisoner transfers from other countries, namely from the French government for one prisoner and the Australian government for five prisoners.
"We will seek the best solution. There must be a mutual agreement between countries. We also hope this practice can be applied to Indonesian citizens abroad. This is still under discussion," he explained.
Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, said that the drafting of a bill on prisoner transfers and the exchange of prisoners is likely.
"It is possible to discuss this matter with the House of Representatives, which is actually mandated by our current Corrections Law, but there is no law yet," he noted on November 21, 2024.
He said that Indonesia does not yet have a specific law regulating the transfer of prisoners of foreign nationality. However, such a transfer can be done based on a mutual legal assistance (MLA) agreement between parties and at the President's discretion.
"Even though it is not based on a law, it is based on MLA agreement between the parties, and also the President's discretion," Mahendra added.
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Translator: Fath Putra Mulya, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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