Behind Cancellation Indonesian President visit to the Netherlands

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday said he was postponing a visit to the Netherlands after hearing that activists planned to file charges against him there for alleged human rights violations.

"I decided to postpone this visit," Yudhoyono said in a brief statement at Halim Perdanakusuma military airbase, minutes before he and his entourage were scheduled to leave for a three-day visit to the Netherlands.

He said that the decision to cancel the trip was made after receiving information that activist groups in the Netherlands wanted to file a lawsuit with The Hague court in connection with alleged human rights violations in Indonesia.

"There has even been a demand to the court for the arrest of the president of Indonesia during the visit," Yudhoyono said, adding that among the activists was the self-proclaimed South Moluccas Republic, a minority group supporting the independence of the small islands in eastern Indonesia.

"If the court is held when I visited there, it concerns our pride as a nation. I therefore decided to postpone this visit," he said.

The government sent a letter to the Dutch prime minister informing him of the postponement, he added.

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