TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Law and Human Rights, Yasonna H Laoly, is leading an Indonesian delegation to Beograd on Saturday, to strengthen bilateral ties and pursue mutual legal assistance treaty with Serbia.

According to a statement received on Saturday, the minister is scheduled to meet a number of Serbian ministers and law enforcement authorities during his visit.

The departure of Laoly, along with the Indonesian delegates, is a follow-up to the meeting the minister had with the Serbian Ambassador to Indonesia, Slobodan Marinkovic, last week.

During the meeting, the minister and the ambassador had discussed the potential for cooperation between Indonesia and Serbia within the Law and Human Rights Ministry's realm, including in mutual legal assistance (MLA) and extraditions.

"We have previously received and learnt the draft of the international agreement on MLA from Serbia. This visit will include further discussions and reaching of an agreement in regard to the concord. I hope there will be good news we can bring back home from the visit," the minister said.

He further stated that legal and human rights cooperation with Serbia needs to be expanded as part of efforts to address the increasing global challenges, particularly regarding drug crimes and human trafficking that are a part of organized trans-national crimes.

From the diplomatic perspective, he continued, the cooperation can strengthen bilateral relations established since 1954, when Serbia was still a part of Yugoslavia.

"Aside from that, cooperation in the law and human rights sectors, such as the MLA and extradition agreements, can also be beneficial in efforts to eradicate corruption and [in terms of] asset recovery," he added.

Indonesia has earlier established 11 such agreements, seven of which have been ratified into State Law. They include MLA agreements with Australia, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, India, and Vietnam, as well as ASEAN.

Four other agreements that are in the process of being ratified are with the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Switzerland, and Russia.

Read also: ASEAN, Serbia to Strengthen Cooperation

ANTARA