Indonesia rejects Australia's prisoner swap deal

By Ainur Rohmah

JAKARTA

Indonesia rejected an Australian offer to exchange prisoners in a bid to save two of its nationals from the death penalty on Thursday, local media reported.

The Foreign Ministry said Indonesia had no legal framework in place to act on the proposal made by Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Tuesday.

"Indonesia does not have any regulation or legal framework regarding a prisoner swap," spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told The Anadolu Agency.

He said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi had rejected the plan in a telephone call to Bishop.

Bishop revealed the planned exchange of three Indonesians held in Australian custody as politicians held a dawn candlelight vigil outside the parliament building in Canberra on Thursday.

"I raised the fact that there were Indonesian prisoners in Australian jails and whether there was an opportunity for us to consider a prisoner swap, a prisoner transfer or a clemency plea in exchange for a return of prisoners," Bishop said.

Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are among 10 drug convicts, nine of them foreigners, facing execution by firing squad within days.

According to Indonesian media, the three prisoners proposed for the swap were fishermen held in a New South Wales jail who were involved in smuggling 389 kilograms of heroin in 1998. They are reportedly eligible for parole in 2017.

Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto said President Joko Widodo had received a report about the proposal, the Kompas news website reported.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said the exchange was not comparable as the three Indonesians did not face execution. Detik online reported him as saying: "I ask you if there are [any] Indonesian citizens who are sentenced to death in Australia? No."

According to the Jakarta Globe, Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu also dismissed the Australian offer.

“What’s with this prisoner exchange? Are we at war?” he asked. Emphasizing the threat from drug trafficking, he added: “If we don’t execute them, they can run a business from inside the prison and later they could be released, can you imagine that? That’s extremely dangerous.”

Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo referred to the offer as an "unusual request.”

Chan and Sukumaran were convicted of leading a trafficking gang dubbed the Bali Nine that attempted to smuggle 8.3 kilograms (18 pounds) of heroin through Indonesia in 2005.

Their case has soured relations between Australia and Indonesia, with Australia’s repeated high-level attempts to have the men’s death sentences commuted rejected.

Alongside the Australians, nationals from Nigeria, Ghana, France, Spain, the Philippines and Brazil also face imminent execution.

On Wednesday, Chan, 31, Sukumaran, 33, and Spaniard Raheem Agbaje Salami, 45, were transferred to Nusa Kambangan prison island off the southern coast of Java.

Two prisoners – Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, 42, and Serge Areski Atlaoui, 50, from France – were already on the island.

Widodo has adopted a tough stance on drug traffickers, denying clemency while Indonesia faces a “drug emergency.” The death penalty was resumed in 2013 after a five-year gap but the first executions only occurred earlier this year when six drug offenders, including five foreigners, were executed.