GreenSn0w

Singapore: With the recently signed accords between Singapore and Indonesia having encountered “unexpected difficulties”, as the Defence Ministry called it, Parliamentarians yesterday asked if the Republic had perhaps rushed into signing the Extradition Treaty (ET).

Wasn’t this especially when the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA), which was to have been concluded as a package, had “not been all tied up with all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed”, asked MP Irene Ng (Tampines GRC).

And with the signing coming two months after Indonesia’s sand ban, did Singapore accede under pressure, asked MP Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC)?

In response to such questions, Senior Minister of State (Foreign Affairs) Zainul Abidin Rasheed said that the ET/DCA package and the sand issue were not linked.

The decision to conclude the package was made much earlier in October 2005. The negotiations were already well-advanced, when sand became an issue this year.

“It was a distraction but not related to talks” on the package, said Mr Zainul Abdidin.

Did Singapore rush into signing? Said Mr Zainul Abidin: “There are others who would say … we were dragging our feet.”

It took meetings at the ministerial level and between the chiefs of the two armed forces for both countries to “iron out the differences and come to a conclusion”.

The two pacts contain “a carefully negotiated balance of benefits” and “if we work on the basis of compromise and friendship, much can be achieved”, he said, but warned that the ET may give rise to fresh problems.

“There are legal procedures and judicial processes which have to be followed when an extradition request is made. Indonesia’s police and judicial processes will be subject to review by our judges and vice versa,” he said.

Both sides would have to allow the due process of law in each country to take its course. Referring to the “unexpected difficulties”, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said the Indonesian request for “some variations” led to a postponement of the signing of three implementing agreements which was set for April 27.

“We’ve conveyed our views and we’re still in discussions,” he said.