Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday postponed a visit planned this week to The Netherlands, citing a human rights trial in the host country that could rule to arrest him.

Mr Yudhoyono cancelled the visit more than an hour after he was supposed to leave on the three-day diplomatic trip to the former colonial power.

“My visit there would coincide with trials related to the RMS (South Maluku Republic) in The Netherlands, in which at the time there would be a ruling whether to arrest the president of Indonesia,” Mr Yudhoyono said.

Jakarta crushed the RMS shortly after it declared independence in 1950 but the movement was revived following the fall of authoritarian President Suharto in 1998.

“If the trial takes place during my visit, then this is tied to the dignity and honour of the country, therefore I have decided to postpone this trip,” the president said.

If he went ahead with the visit, it might create “misunderstanding” and a “bad psychological reaction”, he added.

The Dutch foreign ministry said it had been informed that Mr Yudhoyono’s visit had been postponed, and hoped “for a speedy ruling by the court so that the visit can be allowed to go ahead”.

“Presidents and heads of state enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution in The Netherlands, the President of Indonesia as well,” said the spokesman for the justice ministry.

“We are attacking the president because we want him to release 19 Moluccan prisoners,” John Wattilete, RMS President in exile, said.