Money Politic and Political Offenses: Relationship Study and its Influence on Extradition in Indonesian Criminal Law

Abstract

The absence of normative boundaries for political offenses has led to the emergence of two main
categories: money politics and mechanisms for extraditing the perpetrators of crimes. The initial camp
that meets the criteria of being classified as a criminal act in money politics is a political crime, thereby
suggesting that the individual responsible for this wrongdoing cannot be subjected to extradition. On
the other hand, the second camp does not meet the criteria for being considered a criminal act. Money
politics, which is classified as a political offense, implies that the offender could potentially face
extradition. Nevertheless, this perspective presents an additional legal quandary in terms of determining
its applicability across all cases of money politics. The objective of this research is to delve into this
antinomy by placing emphasis on the primary issues at hand. These issues can be outlined as follows:
Firstly, what is the correlation between criminal acts, money politics, and political offenses in the
context of Indonesian criminal law? Secondly, what are the potential developments in the extradition
process concerning criminal acts involving money politics in the future? This article will make use of
normative legal research, employing a conceptual, statutory, case-based, historical, and comparative
approach. This comprehensive study yields insightful conclusions. Firstly, it delves into the intricate
relationship between political offenses and criminal acts within the realms of Indonesian criminal law.
This exploration gives rise to two contrasting perspectives. On one hand, it defines criminal acts as an
integral part of political offenses, whereas, on the other hand, it posits that criminal acts should not be
classified as political offenses. Both viewpoints carry significant implications concerning the extradition
process for individuals involved in money politics. Secondly, in anticipation of differing opinions,
criteria for political offenses have been formulated as projections for the potential reformulation of the
current extradition regulations, both partially and entirely.