JAKARTA: Indonesia has begun talks with Britain to repatriate the most prolific rapist in British history, a senior minister said, following its move to also seek the return of a Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of being one of the Bali bomb plotters.
Reynhard Sinaga, 41, was found guilty in Manchester in 2020 of assaulting 48 men whom he drugged after taking them back to his apartment from bars and clubs in the British city.
A Manchester court ruled that Sinaga must serve at least 30 years in prison for a total of 159 offenses committed from January 2015 to May 2017.
Indonesia’s senior minister for law and human rights affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra told reporters late on Thursday that talks with the British government were at an early stage.
The mechanism for such a repatriation would be decided later, he said, either through a prisoner transfer or through an exchange with a British prisoner jailed in Indonesia.
“No matter how wrong a citizen is, the country has the obligation to defend its citizen,” Yusril said.
“It’s not an easy job for us,” he said, adding there are many things that need to be negotiated with the British government.
The British embassy in Indonesia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Indonesia is also looking at ways to repatriate Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, who was accused of being involved in some deadly attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings.
Under British rules, Sinaga is only able to file for leniency after he has been in jail for 30 years, Yusril said.
Sinaga’s family have met with the ministry’s representative to seek his repatriation.
If the British government agrees to his return he would be jailed in a maximum security prison, Yusril said. “Otherwise he will cause new problems.”
Sinaga, who has been in the UK since 2007, targeted young men who looked drunk or vulnerable and rendered them unconscious with a sedative.
The rape investigation was the largest in British legal history.
Indonesia begins talks with Britain to repatriate UK’s ‘most prolific rapist’
Indonesia begins talks with Britain to repatriate UK’s ‘most prolific rapist’
- A Manchester court ruled that Sinaga must serve at least 30 years in prison for a total of 159 offenses committed from January 2015 to May 2017
Bangladesh criticizes India over fugitive leader Hasina’s speech
- Hasina said in her audio address that “Bangladesh will never experience free and fair elections” under interim leader Muhammad Yunus
DHAKA: Bangladesh said on Sunday it was “surprised” and “shocked” that India had allowed fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to make a public address in New Delhi.
Hasina, 78, fled to neighboring India in August 2024 after a student-led uprising ended her iron-fisted 15-year rule. She made her first public speech since then in an audio address to a packed press club in Delhi on Friday.
She was found guilty in absentia by a Dhaka court in November of incitement, issuing an order to kill and inaction to prevent atrocities and was sentenced to be hanged.
“The government and the people of Bangladesh are surprised and shocked,” Dhaka’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Allowing the event to take place in the Indian capital and letting mass murderer Hasina openly deliver her hate speech... constitute a clear affront to the people and the Government of Bangladesh.”
It said allowing Hasina to make the speech set “a dangerous precedent” that could “seriously impair bilateral relations.”
Bangladesh voters go to the polls on February 12 to choose new leaders after a period of turmoil that followed the overthrow of Hasina’s autocratic government.
Hasina said in her audio address that “Bangladesh will never experience free and fair elections” under interim leader Muhammad Yunus.
More than 100,000 people watched the address, which was broadcast online.
Bangladesh has asked India to extradite Hasina, but New Delhi has yet to comment on the request.
India’s past support for Hasina has frayed relations between the South Asian neighbors since her overthrow.
