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Jakarta. An Indonesian graft fugitive being held by Australian authorities continued to oppose his extradition, arguing that, among other things, he could contract AIDS if he served his sentence in an Indonesian prison, a top prosecutor said on Friday.

Adrian Kiki Ariawan, who has been sentenced to life in prison for embezzling from a central bank fund while serving as a director of Bank Surya in 2002, is now on the top of Indonesia’s list of fugitives, Deputy Attorney General Darmono said.

“He is our first target for extradition because [he] has been detained in Australia. It’s about time for the extradition,” Darmono said of Adrian.

“But problems persist and hamper Australia from meeting our demands. For example, his lawyer has expressed objections to the extradition because of fears that [Adrian] might get AIDS if he was put in an Indonesian jail,” Darmono said.

A lawyer representing the fugitive has scrutinized the legality of the in absentia trial that resulted in Adrian’s conviction, questioning whether prosecutors had taken proper steps to summon the former bank director to Indonesia for the trial.

“Those reasons are completely groundless,” Darmono said of the defense attorney’s allegations.

“[Adrian’s] lawyers always try to make excuses to prevent the extradition. We always try to accommodate all requests by the Australian government to make the extradition happen,” he added.

Adrian was arrested in Perth, Australia on Nov. 28, 2008, and has been detained ever since.

While bilateral talks about Adrian’s extradition have yet to move forward, the Australian government previously helped Indonesia repatriate around $400,000 worth of assets that belonged to another embezzler, fugitive Hendra Rahardja, who died of natural causes in Australia in 2003 while fleeing a life sentence meted out by a Jakarta court.

However, unconfirmed reports claimed that the repatriated assets were subsequently misappropriated by district prosecutors in West Jakarta.

“The assets are currently being verified by the West Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office will respond to any reports of misappropriation of funds,” Darmono said when asked about the rumor.

“This is an old case, but we are handling it until everything is settled, including the management of the assets recovery. Any disciplinary breach concerning the assets will get stern measures from us,” Darmono said of Hendra’s case.

Hendra, the former owner of now-defunct Bank Harapan Sentosa, and his son, Eko Edy Putranto, were convicted of embezzlement in absentia in 2002.

Eko was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but his whereabouts are unknown.

Adrian and Eko are among 15 convicts and suspects who are wanted for embezzlement cases since the Suharto era.

The government in 2004 set up a special team to track down graft fugitives, now led by Dar mono.