On Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott took a different tact with his efforts to get our government to cancel the upcoming executions of Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, asking Indonesia to remember the billion dollars in aid that Australia sent after the 2004 tsunami that killed 170,000 Indonesians.
“We sent a significant contingent of our armed forces to help in Indonesia with humanitarian relief,” Abbott told reporters in Australia on Wednesday, as quoted by AFP.
Those statements did not go down well with Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno LP Marsudi, who finally addressed the Australian leader’s comments today. While saying she did not want to respond to the prime miniter’s comments, she actually commented on them quite critically.
“We do not respond to statements that are emotional, that are threatening. No,” Retno said at the Presidential Palace today as quoted by Kompas.
Retno continued with the standard refrain that most Indonesians politicians have stuck to when confronted with international criticism about the upcoming executions of the two drug traffickers – we understand your position, but please respect our country and our laws.
Retno also noted that the Indonesian police prevented the Bali Nine smugglers from bringing heroin from Bali to Australia, implying that the Land Down Under should owe us a favor for protecting its citizens.
When pressed by journalists about the statement, Abbott denied the allegations that they implied any sort of threat.
“I was referring to the obvious strength of the relationship between Indonesia and Australia and what we have done for Indonesia in the past. And yes, Indonesia has done a lot for us as well because that’s what friends do for each other. It was important that I point out the strength and the depth of the relationship and that’s exactly what I was doing,” he said, as quoted by AFP.
