Indonesia, Dutch sign deal to repatriate two convicts, one on death row
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Professor Yusril Ihza Mahendra (right), Indonesia’s senior minister for law, human rights and immigration, and the Netherlands' ambassador to Indonesia Marc Gerritsen after documents were signed for the transfer of the prisoners.
PHOTO: EPA
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- Indonesia will repatriate two elderly Dutch prisoners, Siegfried Mets (74) and Ali Tokman (65), convicted of drug offences, following requests from the Netherlands.
- Mets, sentenced to death in 2008 for smuggling 600,000 ecstasy pills, and Tokman, initially sentenced to death but commuted to life, will return to Amsterdam on December 8.
- The repatriation, signed by Indonesian and Dutch officials, highlights strong bilateral relations and was granted for humanitarian reasons due to Mets' poor health.
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JAKARTA - Indonesia and the Netherlands on Dec 2 signed a deal to repatriate two elderly Dutch prisoners convicted of drug offences, officials said, one of whom was on death row.
The two prisoners were Siegfried Mets, 74, and Ali Tokman, 65, according to Professor Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesia’s senior minister for law, human rights and immigration.
Mets was sentenced to death in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta in 2008 for smuggling and distributing 600,000 ecstasy pills.
Tokman was initially given the death penalty in 2015 for smuggling 6kg of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on appeal.
Prof Yusril signed the agreement in Jakarta with Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel, who attended the event virtually.
“In response to the official request by the Dutch Foreign Minister and the request from the King of the Netherlands to President Prabowo Subianto, to which the President responded positively, we will immediately return them home,” Prof Yusril told reporters, after the signing late on Dec 2.
Mets had been jailed in Indonesia for 17 years and “is in a poor health condition”, he said.
Indonesia has not carried out any executions since 2016, although new death sentences are still issued every year.
Mets and Tokman are scheduled to fly to Amsterdam from Jakarta on Dec 8, Prof Yusril added.
Dutch Ambassador Marc Gerritsen said: “We are very grateful that Indonesia allows these two Dutch detainees to be closer to their families, and we asked for this for humanitarian reasons.” He added that the deal underlined strong bilateral relations.
In the past year, Indonesia has repatriated a number of other foreigners
