Indonesia to Increase Cooperation with China to Arrest Corruption Convicts

Beijing, April 27 (Antara) - Indonesia and China have agreed to increase cooperation in the field of law, including the exchange of intelligence on Indonesian corruption convicts hiding in several locations in China, such as Hong Kong and Macau. "China will immediately complete the process and deport the Indonesian fugitives who have been convicted (hiding in China)," Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan informed Antara here on Tuesday evening. After leading an Indonesian delegation to the fifth Indonesia-China dialog on law, security and politics, Pandjaitan noted that Indonesia had even urged for the immediate signing of an extradition agreement between the two countries. "So far, we have deported many Chinese citizens who were involved in crimes or legal problems in Indonesia. It is hoped China would also follow suit, and cooperation in the area would become stronger if an extradition agreement is ratified," he remarked. So far, the process of deportation of problematic citizens of the two countries is done through a reciprocal legal assistance (MLA) scheme, he revealed. "It is believed that several corruption fugitives are still hiding in China," Indonesian Ambassador to China Soegeng Rahardjo said. "We will continue to cooperate and coordinate with the local authorities to arrest and bring them home," he affirmed. Indonesia was recently able to arrest and send home Samadikun Hartono, a noted businessman involved in the manipulation case of Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance worth Rp2.5 trillion that was extended to Samadikun's Modern Bank during the financial crisis in 1998 and was at large for 13 years. During the dialog process, Yang Jiechi, chief of the Chinese delegation, affirmed that China had agreed to immediately ratify the extradition agreement between the two countries, including supporting the process of the settlement of Century Bank's assets in Hong Kong. China supports the efforts to return the assets of former Century Bank that had already been frozen by the Hong Kong court. In 2014, the government was able to confiscate part of Century Bank's assets in Hong Kong worth US$4,076,121 after the Hong Kong court met some of the demands of the Indonesian government submitted through the MLA scheme. The value of the assets is fluctuating as most of them are in the form of shares. The judicial process in Hong Kong had not yet reached the final stage as the Indonesian government had appealed with regard to seizing other assets, which were not fully covered in the High Court's ruling.