Chief Justice upholds decision to deny bail to Indonesian fugitive fighting extradition from S’pore

 The High Court has upheld the decision made by the State Courts to refuse bail to an Indonesian businessman allegedly involved in a high-profile corruption case in his country.

Paulus Tannos, 70, was arrested in Singapore on Jan 17 after being on Indonesia’s fugitive list since October 2021.

Tannos was said to be implicated in a major graft scandal involving the Indonesian government’s electronic ID card or e-KTP project, which allegedly caused state losses of about 2.3 trillion rupiah (S$178 million).

In a hearing on Oct 2 presided over by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Tannos had his appeal for bail denied.

The defence, led by Mr Suang Wijaya of law firm Eugene Thuraisingam, argued that Tannos had medical conditions that justified him being allowed bail.

These conditions included chest discomfort, the narrowing of heart valves and diabetes.

Chief Justice Menon said if bail were to be granted to Tannos, this would mean other accused individuals under the Extradition Act can seek this exception and be released from bail due to some minor illness, only to have the bail revoked a few days later after recovering from it.

He said Tannos’ medical conditions have a degree of stability.

Chief Justice Menon added: “This leads me to the conclusion that (Tannos) does not suffer from any illness that cannot be managed by the Singapore Prison Service safely.”

The State, which was represented by Deputy Solicitor-General (DSG) Vincent Leow, had argued that Tannos, who had several passports, was a flight risk.

Chief Justice Menon agreed that Tannos’ multiple passports, including a diplomatic Guinea-Bissau passport under a different name, added to flight risk concerns.

Tannos, who is believed to have been living in Singapore since 2017, faces one charge of corruption under Indonesian law, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

He appeared in court in a purple jacket labelled “prisoner” and kept his head down during proceedings, while occasionally glancing at his family members in the public gallery.

While Mr Wijaya argued that his client should be given the opportunity to have his medical conditions examined by a private practitioner, DSG Leow said Tannos had not seen his doctor in the two years before his arrest in January and had travelled at least three times in late 2024.

DSG Leow also quoted a doctor on Tannos’ heart disease being stable, and prison conditions not having an adverse effect on his cardiac health as long as he took medication regularly.

DSG Leow said: “What we have is a man who was able to travel actively a year ago and is now saying that his medical condition is so serious that it cannot be addressed by prison doctors, despite evidence showing that his condition has remained stable.”

Indonesia put in a formal extradition request on Feb 24 after Tannos’ arrest in Singapore, the first such request since a treaty between both countries came into force in March 2024.

It grants extradition for offences including corruption, money laundering and bribery, and can be retrospectively applied to crimes committed up to 18 years ago.

Despite previously indicating his willingness to be extradited to Indonesia in a letter to President Prabowo Subianto in April, Tannos changed his mind and has repeatedly not agreed to be extradited to Indonesia.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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