It Took Indonesia a Year to Extradite Fugitive in State Bank Fraud from Serbia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – It took Indonesian authorities a year to conclude an extradition process that finally returned fugitive Maria Pauline Lumowa to Jakarta from Serbia on July 9.

Indonesia's Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly said the process involved several teams from Jakarta to bring home Maria who fled Indonesia 17 years ago while under suspicion of embezzling 1.7 trillion rupiahs ($118 million) from state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).

The collaborative work reached its conclusion with the arrival of Maria at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Thursday.

Kompas TV reported that Maria, 62, got off the national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia at around 10:47am. Clad in an orange detention vest, she wore a mask and her hands were cuffed.

She was accompanied by officials from the Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) and the Immigration Department. Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly flew together with Maria from Serbia.

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Upon Maria's arrival, the minister held a press conference in the airport’s VVIP Room.

"I am pleased to announce that we have officially completed the process of fugitive handing over on behalf of Maria Pauline Lumowa from the Serbian Government," Yasonna said, adding that Maria will be immediately handed over to the police.

Maria already briefly underwent the Covid-19 rapid test and she had been declared healthy by the Serbian Government before flying to Indonesia.

“She has received a health certificate from the Government of Serbia,” the minister said.

Government commitment

The minister said he directly led the mission to bring Maria back to Indonesia. This demonstrated the commitment of the Indonesian government in law enforcement, he said.
He had asked permission from President Joko Widodo through the State Secretary to go to Serbia. 

"The president gave his permission and told me to hold a joint press conference with coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister [Mahfud MD] to show that we are committed to [do our part] for law enforcement purposes,” Yasonna said.

He said Maria’s extradition process from Serbia had been going on for a long time following her arrest by the Serbian Interpol on July 16, 2019.

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