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.
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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
Spain unveils public investment fund to tackle housing crisis
- The Spanish PM said the fund would raise 120 billion euros ($142 billion)
MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday presented a new public investment fund that he said would raise 120 billion euros ($142 billion) and help tackle the country’s persistent housing crisis.
Scarce and unaffordable housing is consistently a top concern for Spaniards and represents a stubborn challenge in one of the world’s most dynamic developed economies.
The new “Spain Grows” fund, first announced in January, aims to replace the tens of billions of EU post-Covid recovery aid that helped drive Spain’s strong growth in recent years.
Sanchez said the headline figure — representing seven percent of Spain’s annual economic output — would come through public and private sources, with an initial contribution of 10.5 billion euros of EU money.
The fund would “mobilize up to 23 billion euros in public and private funding to dynamise the housing supply” and help build 15,000 homes per year, Sanchez added, without specifying a timeframe for the planned investment.
Energy, digitalization, artificial intelligence and security industries would also benefit from the money, the Socialist leader said at a presentation in Madrid.
Tourism is a key component of Spain’s economy, with the country welcoming a record 97 million foreign visitors last year, when GDP growth reached 2.8 percent — almost double the eurozone average.
But locals complain that short-term tourist accommodation has driven up housing prices and dried up supply.
The average price of a square meter for rent has doubled in 10 years, according to online real estate portal Idealista.
According to the Bank of Spain, the net creation of new households and a lag in housing construction created a deficit of 700,000 homes between 2021 and 2025.
Scarce and unaffordable housing is consistently a top concern for Spaniards and represents a stubborn challenge in one of the world’s most dynamic developed economies.
The new “Spain Grows” fund, first announced in January, aims to replace the tens of billions of EU post-Covid recovery aid that helped drive Spain’s strong growth in recent years.
Sanchez said the headline figure — representing seven percent of Spain’s annual economic output — would come through public and private sources, with an initial contribution of 10.5 billion euros of EU money.
The fund would “mobilize up to 23 billion euros in public and private funding to dynamise the housing supply” and help build 15,000 homes per year, Sanchez added, without specifying a timeframe for the planned investment.
Energy, digitalization, artificial intelligence and security industries would also benefit from the money, the Socialist leader said at a presentation in Madrid.
Tourism is a key component of Spain’s economy, with the country welcoming a record 97 million foreign visitors last year, when GDP growth reached 2.8 percent — almost double the eurozone average.
But locals complain that short-term tourist accommodation has driven up housing prices and dried up supply.
The average price of a square meter for rent has doubled in 10 years, according to online real estate portal Idealista.
According to the Bank of Spain, the net creation of new households and a lag in housing construction created a deficit of 700,000 homes between 2021 and 2025.
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