Break-in at Melbourne Consulate 'Pure Crime', Ministry Says
10 January 2017 18:20 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said that the break-in at the Indonesian Consulate General Office in Melbourne, Australia, was a criminal act. The break-in took place last Friday and the suspects recorded in on video and posted it online.
"Whatever the motive was; the act in unjustifiable. It was pure crime, the motive no longer matters. What the police are after is the actions," Arrmanatha said on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.
President Joko Widodo gave a similar statement, and said the incident has nothing to do with the state's sovereignty.
"It was a criminal act. I received reports about the addition of more security personnel in Australia," Widodo said during a field inspection to the Batang-Semarang Toll road project in Central Java on Monday, January 9, 2017.
The Australian police are currently investigating the incident. "Based on information from the Consulate General, the local police are looking for the video uploader, whoe does not have a permanent address," Arrmanatha said.
The Australian police, Arrmanatha said, are coordinating with managers of the apartment building next to the Consulate. "The police are looking for the apartment's security camera footage since it was reported that the suspect climbed the Consulate building's gate by scaling the apartment building's wall," Arrmanatha said.
Arrmanatha confirmed that security at the Embassy and the Consulate General is now enhanced. "Every year we evaluate and review our security measures," Arrmanatha concluded.
YOHANES PASKALIS