Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – A court in The Hague on Tuesday rejected a motion filed by the South Maluku Republic seeking the arrest of former Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda during his visit to the country.
Dutch news portal Nieuws quoted a court official as saying the court had ruled in favor of the Dutch government, which argued that arresting Hassan would damage ties between the two countries.
The ruling came just hours before Hassan left the Netherlands for Belgium. He arrived in The Hague on Monday, where he was invited to speak about ties between the two countries at the Peace Palace.
This is the second time a Dutch court has rejected a motion filed by the separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS) seeking the arrest of an Indonesian official. Last month, the court rejected a motion to arrest President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during a planned visit that was canceled at the last minute because of the court case.
It filed the motion against Hassan on Nov. 16, arguing that as a former foreign minister he was partially responsible for the torture of RMS activists and the ill-treatment of political prisoners from the group.
In making its claim of human rights abuses, the group cited the arrests in 2007 of several activists who performed a traditional war dance during a visit by Yudhoyono to Ambon.
"The RMS has a strong case [against Hassan] backed by evidence such as video recordings and reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on human rights abuses in Maluku," said Williem Sopacua, vice president of the RMS.
The group responded to the rejection of its motion by lodging a complaint with the court's review board claiming judicial bias. The board, however, ruled that the judges had accommodated both the RMS and the Dutch government throughout the proceedings.
Bantarto Bandoro, an international relations expert at the University of Indonesia, called the RMS's move a publicity stunt. "What does a former foreign minister like [Hassan] have to do with torture and human rights violations in Maluku? The RMS is clearly targeting random [Indonesian officials] traveling to the Netherlands," he said.
Hikmahanto Juwana, an international law expert at the University of Indonesia, said the decision by Yudhoyono last month to cancel his trip to the Netherlands had only served to boost the RMS's profile in the international arena.
The RMS declared independence from Indonesia in April 1950 and began a campaign of guerilla warfare against the Indonesian military. The uprising was crushed in a matter of months. Thousands of RMS supporters fled to the Netherlands where they were granted political asylum and established an RMS government-in-exile.