TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono plans to discuss the extradition of graft fugitive Djoko Tjandra during his meeting next week with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neil.
President’s spokesman Julian Aldian Pasha said the issue with the former Era Giat Prima director has been the topic of diplomatic discussions and the two countries are currently trying to find the best solution for this matter.
Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have been discussing the effort to extradite fugitive Djoko Tjandra for quite a while. Djoko fled to Papua New Guinea and became a citizen in the country since mid-2012.
Djoko Tjandra was convicted of misusing Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) funds in Bank Bali Case in 1999. He flew off to Papua New Guinea on June 10, 2009, just one day before the Supreme Court issued a verdict against him.
The Supreme Court found Djoko Tjandra guilty and was fined Rp 15 million (around US$ 1,500) plus Rp 54 billion (around US$ 5,495,000) in restitution.
FRANSISCO ROSARIANS