DPR Looks to Ratify Indonesia-Singapore Extradition Agreement

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I and III members on Thursday signaled that the Singapore and Indonesia extradition agreement would likely be ratified, asserting that the ratification would not be canceled as it was in 2007. 

This came after leaders of the two countries, President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, signed multiple agreements overseeing airspace (FIR), defense (DCA), and extradition on January 25. Parliaments of both countries must ratify them before they can be implemented. 

DPR's Commission III member from the Gerindra Party faction Habiburokhman asserted that the agreements can be soon ratified.

“This is a step forward. It’s been decades we tried to ratify it but only this time it can be materialized,” said the legislator at the Senayan Parliament Complex on January 27. “This is positive work across state ministries which will be followed up. We will ratify it later.”

He then urged the government to truly make use of the precious momentum to hunt down graft suspects who have fled to Singapore and recover state assets that have been taken abroad by corruptors. 

His statement was echoed by Commission I DPR member from PDIP faction T.B. Hasanuddin, who believes the extradition agreement this time differs from the one that failed in 2007. “I might argue that the version this time is different from the geopolitical situation in 2007,” he added. 

Read more: Indonesia, Singapore Sign Extradition Agreement

ARRIJAL RACHMAN