Minister of Law and Human Rights, Yasonna Laoly, signed the MLA Treaty with the Government of the Russian Federation in Moscow last Friday, December 13, 2019. MLA Treaty is a mutual legal assistance treaty between the two countries. The signing of the MLA Treaty is in line with the direction and commitment of President Joko Widodo in eradicating and preventing corruption and asset recovery. "We hope that the full support of the Indonesian House of Representatives will soon ratify so that this Treaty can be promptly implemented by law enforcers and other relevant agencies," Yasonna said in a written statement. The MLA Treaty between Indonesia and Russia contains 23 articles, including regulating legal assistance regarding freezing, confiscation, detention, and confiscation of assets resulting from crimes. "This broad scope of mutual legal assistance is an important part in supporting the criminal law process in the requesting country." The Treaty with Russia is the 11th MLA signed by the Government of Indonesia. Previously, MLA treaty were held with ASEAN, Australia, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, India, Vietnam, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Switzerland. The MLA Treaty between Indonesia and Russia was concluded through two years of negotiations led by the Director General of General Legal Administration of the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Cahyo R. Muzhar. Indonesia and Russia are also scheduled to sign an extradition treaty, Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC), and Visa Simplification Agreements in early 2020 during President Vladimir Putin's visit to Jakarta. According to Yasonna, the Indonesia-Russia MLA Treaty is an extraordinary achievement of mutual legal assistance cooperation and a very important diplomatic success, considering that diplomatic relations between the two countries have a long history and run for almost 70 years. Russia is one of the most influential countries in the world, both politically and economically. Recently, Russia has become a destination for coffee and fruit exports from Indonesia. In addition, in 2018 Indonesia exported fast boats produced by Banyuwangi to Russia. The value of Russian investment in Indonesia has also increased, which was marked by the signing of 13 memorandum of understanding of business players from Russia and Indonesia on August 1, 2019. Likewise, in the tourism sector. Tourist visits continue to increase both from Russia to Indonesia and vice versa. So cooperation between the two countries in various fields, Yasonna argues, is important to improve, including cooperation in the legal field. "On behalf of the Indonesian government, we express our highest gratitude and appreciation to the Russian government for helping and facilitating the realization of the MLA Treaty," said Yasonna.
Source: https://national.tempo.co/read/1283700/percepatan-mla-indonesia-russia-signed
