Strong synergy and commitment of the state is what resulted in Maria Pauline Lumowa’s successful extradition. Such spirit is also expected in the hunt for other fugitives.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS -- The synergy of government agencies and law enforcers shown during the effort to extradite fugitive Maria Pauline Lumowa shows the country\'s ability to capture fugitives. Similar synergy is also expected in the hunt for other fugitives, such as Joko S. Tjandra, Sjamsul Nursalim and Harun Masiku.
"Maria\'s extradition shows the seriousness of the state in thoroughly investigating the case and bringing those responsible to court. Given to that situation, the state should be able to catch other fugitives," said criminal law professor at the School of Law, Gadjah Mada University Eddy OS Hiariej, when contacted from Jakarta, on Thursday (9/7/2020).
Maria Pauline Lumowa, a suspect in an embezzlement case at Bank BNI’s Kebayoran Baru branch office through a fictitious credit (L/C) letter, arrived in the country on Thursday afternoon, after being extradited from Serbia. She is suspected of causing up to Rp 1.2 trillion in state losses and has been a fugitive since 2003.
Professor at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Azyumardi Azra, hopes the strength of the synergy and commitment of the state in successfully extraditing Maria will continue in the hunt for other fugitives.
Other fugitives
Other fugitives that are expected to be captured soon, among others, is Joko Tjandra. The convict in the Bank Bali corruption case, who has been a fugitive since 2009, was reportedly able to return to Indonesia in June. On 8 June, he reportedly registered for an e-identity (ID) card in
South Grogol subdistrict, South Jakarta. The ID card was then used to register for a case review at the South Jakarta District Court on the same day.
Other fugitives that have caught the public\'s attention are suspects in the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance graft case amounting to Rp 4.58 trillion, Sjamsul Nursalim and his wife Itjih Nursalim. Both have been on the most-wanted list (DPO) of the Corruption Eradication Commission since September 2019.
There is also Harun Masiku, who is suspected of bribing then-General Elections Commission (KPU) member Wahyu Setiawan earlier this year.
Collaboration and commitment
In a press conference on Maria\'s extradition to Indonesia at Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, in Tangerang, Banten, yesterday, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly emphasized that the success of bringing Maria home was the result of cooperation between government agencies and law enforcement institutions. In addition, it is also evidence that the state is committed to pursuing fugitives.
Yasonna said Maria was initially arrested by Serbian Interpol. Upon hearing of this, the Public Law Administration Directorate General at the Law and Human Rights Ministry immediately sent an extradition request on 31 July 2019 and 3 Sept. 2019.
In addition, the team from the Law and Human Rights Ministry together with the National Police went to Serbia to process Maria\'s extradition. Lobbying of Serbian authorities was also carried out by Indonesian Ambassador to Serbia Mochamad Chandra Widya Yudha. The lobbying also included a high-level meeting between ministers of the two countries.
The whole process, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah, was completed a few months ago. However, the Covid-19 pandemic had hampered the extradition process.
Even so, the extradition was under way. Moreover, there was a deadline for Maria\'s detention by Serbian authorities, which falls on 17 July. That effort also paid off on Wednesday (8/7/2020), Maria was handed over to the Indonesian government.
"Even though we don\'t have an extradition treaty with Serbia, with good support, high-level diplomacy, we were finally able to bring her [Maria] home," said Yasonna.
One of the lobbies and friendship with Serbia and the National Police had worked together in 2011 to arrest fugitive Dimitar Nikolov Iliev. According to police data in Europe, Dimitar committed fraud, causing 15 billion euros or around Rp 24 trillion in losses. The fraud was committed around 5,500 times through 509 ATMs (Kompas, 24/10/2015).
Alleged bribery
The Serbian commitment in fulfilling the request of the Indonesian government for an extradition was not disrupted by a number of maneuvers carried out by Maria\'s legal team. In fact, according to Yasonna, Maria\'s legal team had tried to bribe Serbian authorities.
"So, her [Maria’s] lawyer tried to give 100,000 euro to officials at the ministry in Serbia. It was rejected. In the second attempt, the bribe money was increased up to 300,000 euro, it was rejected. In the third attempt, the bribe money was increased to 500,000 euro. The lawyer was finally arrested. So the lawyer was arrested for trying to commit bribery," he said.
The Serbian government was also steadfast in its stance, even though there were other countries in Europe that tried to influence the case. However, Yasonna did not mention the countries in question.
In 2009 and 2014, Indonesia had the opportunity to request the Dutch government for Maria\'s extradition. However, the request was rejected. The extradition request was submitted to the Netherlands because the woman, born in Paleloan, North Sulawesi, had become a Dutch citizen in 1979.
Yasonna promised that the hunt for fugitives would not stop with Maria. The synergy between government agencies and law enforcement institutions will also be strengthened when hunting down other fugitives, including Joko Tjandra.
The head of the National Police’s Public Relations Division, Insp. Gen. Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono, said that after Maria was returned to Indonesia, the Criminal Investigation Department would detain her and proceed with legal proceedings.