Jakarta, under pressure from The Hague, agrees to repatriate Dutch drug convicts — including death row inmate

JAKARTA, INDONESIA: After decades of legal battles and long years behind bars, two Dutch men convicted of drug offenses in Indonesia are finally set to return home, under a historic agreement between the two countries. One has spent nearly two decades on death row, while the other has served more than a decade of a life sentence.

The repatriation agreement, signed Tuesday in parallel ceremonies in Jakarta and Amsterdam, came at the request of the Dutch king and foreign ministry, citing serious health concerns for both prisoners, according to Indonesia’s senior law minister, Yusril Ihza Mahendra. President Prabowo Subianto approved the request, and the men are expected to arrive in the Netherlands on December 8.

Siegfried Mets, 74, has lived with the shadow of execution hanging over him since 2008, when he was convicted in connection with the shipment of 600,000 ecstasy pills from the Netherlands. Ali Tokman, 65, has spent 11 years in prison following his arrest in 2014 for carrying more than six kilograms of MDMA at Surabaya airport.

Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Marc Gerritsen described the repatriation as a deeply human gesture. “We are very grateful that Indonesia allows these two Dutch detainees to be closer to their families,” he said, underscoring the role of compassion alongside diplomacy in the agreement.

Nearly 530 people currently sit on death row in the country, including about 100 foreigners, according to the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections. Indonesia’s last executions took place in 2016.

For Mets and Tokman, this arrangement signifies more than just a handover of guardianship—it is an opportunity for them to be with their families again, to enjoy and live the years remaining in their lives closer to home, and to eventually leave behind the seclusion and loneliness of Indonesia’s jails.