Immigration Officials Arrest Singaporean with Indonesian ID

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Law and Human Rights Minister Regional Office in Riau Province is currently investigating a Singaporean identified as Azhar who was arrested for possessing an identification card, birth certificate, and family registration card issued by the Pekanbaru City regional government.

"We are currently examining the perpetrator to find out who issued the documents," said Ferdinand Siagian, Chief of the Riau Law and Human Rights Minister office on Friday, January 3, 2017.

In an attempt to uncover the origin of the documents, Ferdinand said that the Human Rights office will continue to coordinate with the Pekanbaru Demography and Civil Registration Office.

In addition, Ferdinand said that coordination will continue to be carried out to identify the originality of the identification card and family registration card. "We are still waiting for answers [from the Civil Registration Office]," Ferdinand said.

Azhar was arrested by the Pekanbaru Immigration Office by the end of January 2017. According to Chief of Immigration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry Regional Office in Riau Sutrisno, Azhar was arrested while he is applying for a passport.

During the application process, Azhar attempted to deceive immigration officials by using Indonesian documents. However, officials grow suspicious over Azhar's bad Indonesian language.

Azhar claimed that he had been living in Indonesia for six months and has been married an Indonesian woman.

ANTARA