Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin said on Friday that Indonesia would not swap British Lindsay June Sandiford - a narcotics convict on death row - with Rafat Ali Rizvi, a British national convicted of fraud for his role in the Bank Century scandal.
The minister made the statement in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that rejected Sandiford's appeal of her death sentence for smuggling 3.8 kilograms of cocaine into the resort island of Bali.
A prisoner swap could only be carried only if there were regulations to implement it Amir said on Friday on the sidelines of an event at the State Palace.
In January, the Denpasar District Court handed a death penalty to the British national despite the prosecutors' demand that she be jailed for 15 years. The Bali High Court upheld the verdict in April.
Rizvi, a 52-year-old British national was sentenced in absentia to 15 years by the Central Jakarta District Court in 2010 for numerous counts of bank fraud that led to financial difficulties prior to the Bank Century bailout scandal.
Rizvi, the former owner of Bank Century, along with convicted Saudi Arabian national Hesham al Warraq, fled overseas in April last year and stashed their stolen money in Hong Kong and Europe, according to the National Police.
In total, the pair embezzled around Rp 12 trillion of bank assets, according to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) in November 2009. Bank Century, now renamed Bank Mutiara, received a state bailout worth Rp 6.7 trillion after its near-collapse in 2008.
Amir denied there were talks between the 2 governments about a swap following British media reports.
However, according to the ministry's website, Amir is known to have visited the UK recently and met with some officials including the Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Minister for Faith and Communities Baroness Warsi "to increase legal cooperation between Indonesia and the UK related to the asset recovery from and extradition process of Rizvi to Indonesia".
Supreme Court spokesman Ridwan Mansyur said the cessation panel never considered anything related to politics in issuing its verdict. "The judges [only looked at the facts] for example, she was found guilty of bringing a considerable amount of cocaine into Indonesia."
Source: The Jakarta Post, August 31, 2013
UNITED KINGDOM: Govt vows to support death-row woman
The government yesterday vowed to support a woman on death row in Indonesia for drug smuggling as she mulls her next step after the country's top court rejected her appeal.
3 judges at the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the death sentence handed down to Lindsay Sandiford in January after she was caught trying to bring $2.4mn worth of cocaine into the resort island of Bali last year.
It was the 57-year-old's 2nd appeal, and she now has just two more chances to get the sentence overturned and avoid the firing squad. She can seek a judicial review of the top court's decision, but to do so she must show the judges in her case were negligent or find new evidence to present. Otherwise, she can appeal to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for a pardon.
Death row convicts in Indonesia rarely succeed in getting their sentences reduced, however.
A spokesman for the British embassy in Jakarta said London would support Sandiford's efforts.
"In line with our strong opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances, we will consider how to support any application for judicial review or clemency that Sandiford chooses to make," he said.
The death sentence handed to Sandiford came as a shock after prosecutors recommended just 15 years in jail. Police said she was at the centre of a drugs-importing ring involving 3 other Britons but Sandiford argued she was forced to transport the drugs to protect her children whose safety was at stake.
Britain has previously raised concerns about Sandiford's treatment in Bali's notorious Kerobokan jail, alleging in papers submitted to a court in the island's capital Denpasar that officials threatened her with a gun and deprived her of sleep.
In April, the British grandmother lost her attempt to get the government in London to fund her legal case. Members of the public have donated thousands of pounds to help fund her fight.
Source: Gulf Times, August 31, 2013
