REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry has urged Malaysia to provide consulate access for its embassy to confirm if Siti Aisyah, arrested for alleged involvement in the assassination of North Korean leader's step brother, was an Indonesian. "We need consulate access to confirm that this woman is an Indonesian. We know that her passport is authentic, but we can't yet say that this individual is an Indonesian. We have to make sure," the ministry's spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said here on Thursday.

He emphasized that Malaysia must provide access to governments whose citizens are arrested for a legal case, as stipulated in the Vienna Convention 1963. "We have urged the Malaysian authority to immediately provide consulate access. Article 36 of Vienna Convention 1963 stipulates that it is obligatory for a country that arrests foreigners to provide consulate access without delay," he asserted.

Arrmanatha stressed that it was important for the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and its lawyers to receive the access to meet Aisyah. "This is to confirm if the passport that has been verified is that of the detained person's and to confirm if she is an Indonesian," the spokesman said.

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However, he noted that the Indonesian government would respect Malaysia's legal process. Malaysian police has yet to charge Aisyah for lack of evidence in the case.

Earlier on Monday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met her Malaysian and Vietnamese counterparts in the Philippines to discuss the issue. During the meeting, the Malaysian minister disclosed the development of the police investigation in the case.

Under the Malaysian law, during the investigation process, the two detainees should not be given access to meet any parties other than investigators. Retno reminded that consulate access is still needed, despite the recent information from staff of Indonesian Embassy, who had met Malaysian investigators, that Aisyah was in good health.

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