Singapore working to expedite Indonesia’s extradition request for wanted businessman: Shanmugam

SINGAPORE: Singapore is working to expedite Indonesia’s extradition request for a businessman at the centre of a corruption case linked to a government project, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Monday (Mar 10).

It is the first case under a new extradition treaty between Singapore and Indonesia, which was signed in January 2022 and came into force in March last year.

Businessman Paulus Tannos was in 2019 named by the Indonesian authorities as a suspect in a corruption case linked to the government’s electronic ID card project, which caused the state about 2.3 trillion rupiah (US$140 million) in losses.

The businessman, who also goes by Tjhin Thian Po, has been living in Singapore since 2017. He is a permanent resident here.

Tannos is currently in remand without bail after being arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on Jan 17. His extradition case is before the Singapore court, said Mr Shanmugam.

“It all depends on the documents that we get, how clear they are from Indonesia, and what sort of arguments Tannos puts up, and how the court approaches it,” the minister said in a press conference on the matter.

“From the government of Singapore's perspective, we will do everything we can to expedite.”

In response to a question from CNA on how Indonesia has responded to the timeline for Singapore’s due process, Mr Shanmugam said the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) is in constant communication with its Indonesian counterparts.

He said how fast the case proceeds depends on the arguments by Tannos and his lawyers and factors such as the available dates for the court hearings.

“I think so far we've been focusing on making the applications in court, and they (the Indonesians) understand the process,” he said.

FIRST REQUEST IN DECEMBER

On Dec 19 last year, Singapore received the first request from Indonesia to arrest Tannos, said Mr Shanmugam.

The businessman allegedly helped his company PT Sandipala Arthaputra secure a rigged tender for the government project, and embezzled around 140 billion rupiah from the project between 2011 and 2013.

He did not cooperate with Indonesia's anti-corruption body's investigations, leading to him being put on the country’s most-wanted list in 2021.

“Singapore took the request from Indonesia very seriously. This is the first case under the extradition treaty between Singapore and Indonesia,” noted Mr Shanmugam.

Extradition refers to the handover of individuals wanted for a crime in another country. Singapore also has extradition agreements with other places, such as Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the United States.

“Our agencies are required to assess whether the request comes within the framework of the extradition treaty, so CPIB was asked to do that together with the Attorney-General's Chambers,” said Mr Shanmugam.

“They did the assessment and took the view that the request did fall within the treaty.”

On Jan 17, CPIB applied for and was issued a warrant of arrest for Tannos, and he was taken into custody on the same day, said Mr Shanmugam.

Upon his arrest, Tannos was put in remand without bail, pending the submission of a formal request for his extradition.

While Tannos produced a diplomatic passport from West African country Guinea-Bissau, the Singapore government was advised by the AGC that it does not grant him diplomatic immunity, as he is not accredited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“He has no diplomatic immunity to preclude the arrest and the extradition. That's the government's position,” said Mr Shanmugam.

While Tannos and his lawyers are entitled to take this up in court and have said they will follow up accordingly, they have not done so, said the minister.

REVIEWING OF DOCUMENTS

About two weeks back, on Feb 24 this year, Singapore received Indonesia's formal request for extradition, along with the relevant documents, said Mr Shanmugam.

The AGC is currently reviewing the request and all the documents, together with other agencies such as the CPIB. Once all the requirements for extradition are met, the process will go back to court and it will kickstart the formal extradition order, said Mr Shanmugam.

“If Tannos doesn't contest his extradition, he can be extradited in six months, maybe even less. But he has told the court that he will not consent to the extradition, and that he will in fact be contesting the extradition, so the process obviously will take longer,” he said.

The court will now have to find a date to hear the submissions from both sides, before coming to a decision, said Mr Shanmugam.

Tannos will also seek more time for his lawyers to prepare his case, and if the court eventually allows the extradition, he is entitled to appeal too, said the minister.

“Hearings can vary from case to case. The full legal process, if it's contested at every step of the way and is complicated, can even take two years,” said Mr Shanmugam.

“It is not like we can just put him on a plane and send him back. There are formal processes.”

When someone enters Singapore on a false pretext or passport, they can just be turned back to the country of origin, but the circumstances of Tannos being in Singapore are different, said Mr Shanmugam.

“He's got to go through the formal process because he's got a valid passport, he's validly in Singapore, and he's accused of something,” he said.

“AGC is working very much on this. We take this very seriously, and the AGC will try and expedite the whole process.”

The Ministry of Law said in a media release that the Singapore government is “fully committed to combating crime and upholding our role as a responsible extradition partner”. 

“The Singapore government is taking the case very seriously, and will do all possible under the law to facilitate the request for Tannos’ extradition,” it said.