Immigration officers at Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport have detained an Australian national, identified by the initials BA, who went viral on social media following a video showing an alleged indecent act in a Balinese resident’s yard.
BA was intercepted while attempting to leave Indonesian territory on Tuesday, 25th of August, at around 12 AM Central Indonesian Time.
“This case stemmed from a video circulating on social media on Saturday [the 23rd of August] that showed an alleged indecent act taking place in the yard of a residence in the North Kuta area, Badung Regency, Bali. Acting on this information, the Immigration Intelligence and Enforcement Team from the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office immediately conducted an investigation and coordinated with the North Kuta Sector Police to verify the details and the sequence of events,” said the Head of the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Muhamad Novyandri, in a statement on the following Wednesday (the 26th of August).
Data from the Immigration Management Information System identified an Australian national suspected of being linked to the incident, who turned out to be BA. As a preventive measure, Immigration added BA’s details to the “Subject of Interest” (SOI) list, which enables officers to immediately conduct an inspection should the individual pass through an Immigration Checkpoint. The immigration system eventually detected a “Hit” on the SOI alert when BA was at the departure terminal of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.
The Director General of Immigration, Hendarsam Marantoko, emphasised that any information from the public relating to alleged violations by foreign nationals will be followed up quickly and involve coordination with the relevant agencies.
“Maintaining state sovereignty starts from guarding every entry and exit point into Indonesian territory. Immigration will continue to strengthen intelligence-based supervision, technology, and cross-agency collaboration so that every potential violation can be detected and handled quickly, precisely, and in accordance with statutory provisions,” he added.
The indecent act involving BA and an unidentified foreign woman was captured on CCTV and went viral on social media. Preliminary questioning revealed that BA admitted to the act, stating that he had met the woman while intoxicated at a beach club in the area. He has been taken into custody at the Badung Police Headquarters for further questioning and coordination with Immigration authorities regarding his immigration status. As of this writing, there has been no clarification as to whether the foreign woman has also been identified and apprehended.