Bali Immigration Office Deports U.S. Citizen

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Denpasar immigration authority in Bali on Friday deported a U.S. citizen after he served time at a correctional facility over a vandalism charge.

“He last came to Indonesia in March 2020 via I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport. He was involved in a criminal offense by vandalizing an object based on Article 406 paragraph (1) of the Penal Code,” head of the Bali Provincial Office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Jamaruli Manihuruk, said in a press statement released on Saturday.

The U.S. citizen, identified as Daniel BH, was released from the Kerobokan correctional facility in Bali on March 9, 2021. He had been sentenced to jail over a vandalism charge.

Daniel did not have a passport and permit of stay in Indonesia, Manihuruk said. Hence, he was subject to immigration administrative action, in accordance with Article 75 of Law No. 6 of 2011 on immigration, he added.

“Based on the dossiers received from the Kerobokan class II A correctional facility, it turned out that he was identified as David Smith of Canada. But after we checked with the Denpasar detention house, he admitted that his true identity is Daniel BH from the U.S.,” he said.

The U.S. embassy confirmed that Daniel BH is a U.S. citizen, he added.

Daniel BH was flown to Soekarno-Hatta Airport under the escort of two officers of the Denpasar detention house on Friday (August 27, 2021). Thereafter, he was flown to Istanbul aboard Turkish Airlines flight TK0057 en route to New York.

Manihuruk said the local immigration office has proposed that the Directorate General of Immigration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry blacklist Daniel BH, in accordance with Law No. 6/2011 on immigration.

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ANTARA