SyrianTouristinBaliTurnsOuttoHavePaidRp15MillionforFakeIDCardandFamilyCard
ASyriancitizen,Mohammad ZghaibbinNizar(31),was detainedattheimmigrationoffice inDenpasar,Balionsuspicionof havingafakeIDcard.Zghaib admittedtohavingafakeIDcard afterpayingRp15millionto someonewhoclaimedtobean officer."Hehasspentatotalof aroundRp15million,"saidI WayanDharmaNaGara, Zghaib'slawyer,onThursday (9/3/2023).
TheSyriannationalcametoBali forahoneymoonwithhis
fiancée,whoisaFilipinocitizen. ThetwoarrivedinBalion December29,2022.InBali, Zghaibwantedtoopenabank accountsothathecouldeasily makepaymentswhileinBali, suchasenteringtourist attractions,usingonline transportation,andorderingfood.
However,Zghaibcouldnotspeak Indonesian.Throughan IndonesiancitizennamedN whomheknewfromanapp,N thentookZghaibtothebankto openanaccountandasavings book.ZghaibthengaveNRp8 million.Butwhenhewasatthe bank,Zghaibdidnotunderstand therequirementsforopeningan accountexplainedbythebank officer.
NthenofferedtohelpZghaib throughhisunclewhowasalso anofficerwiththeinitial"P". Zghaib,N,andPthenmetata governmentoffice.Lateritwas revealedthattheagencywas thePopulationandCivil RegistrationOfficeofDenpasar City.However,Zghaibstilldid notknowwhattheofficewas for.
Intheoffice,Zghaibwasasked toundergosecuritycheckson thegroundsofbeingsuspected asaterrorist."Hewasalso scannedforhiseyes,retina, fingerprints,andphoto,"saidNa Gara.Severaldayslater,Zghaib receiveddocumentsonhis phone.Thecontentswerehis IDcardandfamilycard. Meanwhile,hisnamechanged
toAgungNizarSantosowithan addressinSidakarya, Denpasar.Zghaibwassurprised becausetheIDcardandfamily cardwerealreadymadeforhim. WhenhemetwithPagain,he wasthreatenedwithproblemsif hedidnotaccepttheIDcard andwasaskedforanotherRp7 million.NaGaraasked immigrationtoprovidelegal certaintywhetherhisclientwas guiltyornot."Wehavesent letterstotheheadofDenpasar immigration,theMinistryofLaw andHumanRights,andthe ombudsman,"hesaid.Healso planstoreporttothepolice."My clientisjustavictimofnot understandingthesysteminthis country,"NaGaraconcluded.
PoliceofficersatNgurahRai InternationalAirport apprehendedaFrenchwoman earlierthisweekforallegedly causingadisturbanceinthe
airport'sinternational departuresterminal.
Accordingtoreports,EM,a 30-year-oldwoman,arrived attheairportonMondayat around9:30pmand intendedtotravelto SingaporewithKLMRoyal DutchAirlines.However,she changedhermindbeforecheckin,claimingthattheplanewas notsafe.
Airportofficialsdirectedhertothe
immigrationcheckpointto cancelherticket.Thefollowing morningat8am,EMreturned totheairporttopurchase anothertickettoSingapore,this timewithAirAsia,scheduledfor 2:35pm.
EMclearedallsecurity checkpointsandimmigration deskswithoutanyproblems untilaround11am,whenshe begancausingasceneata coffeeshop.Severalfemale policeofficersandairport
officialswerecalledtohandle thesituation,andEMwas eventuallyapprehendedafter attemptingtoflee.
ShewasthentakentoProf.Dr. IGNNgoerahDenpasarHospital (alsoknownasSanglah Hospital)forpsychiatric treatment.Policesuspectthat EMmayhavebeensuffering fromdepression,whichmay havecontributedtoherbehavior attheairport.
woAlgerianmenwerearrested overtheweekendforstealing travelers’belongings,includinga laptop,aniPad,andapassport attheNgurahRaiInternational Airport.
Thetwosuspectsareidentified bytheirinitialsHR,49,and AHB,28.Thepairtoldthe authoritiesthattheywere financiallystrugglingandhadto resorttothecrime.
AirportPolicechiefIdaAyu
Wikarnitisaidinapress conferenceyesterdaythatthe twomenwenttotheairportlast Fridaypretendingtobrowse ticketstoflyhome,onlytolater sneakintotheinternational arrivalsareatofindtheirtargets.
DindaKarin,33,hadjustarrived fromDubaiat10pmwhenshe realizedthatherbagcontaining hermobilephoneandclothes wentmissing.
Later,thetwosuspectsalsostole
apassportbelongingto RussiannationalSvitoslavS. Fomenko,20,andalaptopand aniPadthatbelongto AmericannationalLeila Simone,19.
Intotal,policesaidthethree victimssuffered IDR131,500,000(US$8,508)in losses.It’snotyetknown whetherornottheitemshave beenreturnedtotherightful owners.
“Whenthesuspectscommitted theirthirdactoftheft(on Simone),wealreadyhada reportfrom[Dinda].Wechecked theCCTVandeverythingwas clear,”saidIdaAyu.
Forhealthanddecency,police urgeagainstdrivingmotorbikes shirtlessinBali
Asmuchasyoumaylove flauntingyourchiseledbeach bod,youmaywanttoconsider puttingonatopwhendrivinga motorbikeinBali,policesay.Ni PutuUtariani,whoheadsthe trafficdivisionattheDenpasar Police,saidshehasnoticedthat manyforeigntouristsridetheir motorcyclesshirtlessinBali.
“Atleastputonatop,likeatshirt,”UtarianitoldDetikBali today,addingthatmotoristsare obligedtoobservevalues
relatedtopublicdecency.“The bestoptionisforthemtoweara jackettoshieldthemfromwind, rain,andthesun’srays.”
Utarianiimploredmotorbike rentalstocommunicatetorenters thehealthanddecencyaspects ofdrivinginBaliinadditionto safetyregulations.
PoliceinBalirecentlylauncheda crackdownontrafficviolations, withspecialfocusonforeign motoristsaftertheywerecalled outonlineforvariousoffenses likeinstallingcustomlicense plates,drivingwithoutahelmet, anddrivingwithoutalicense.
FromSaturdaytoSunday, policeticketed147motorists, themajorityofwhomwere foreigners.
Itdoesn’tappearthatanyof themwerestoppedfordriving shirtless,asthatistechnically notaviolationofIndonesia’s trafficlaws.Outsideoflaidback Bali,however,wewouldn’tbe surprisedifshirtless motorcyclistsgetchargedwith publicindecency.
AccordingtoUtariani,driving shirtlesscanexposeonetoa hostofhealthproblems, includingskincancer.Shealso notedthatitisnotuncommon fortouriststounderestimatethe intensityoftheBalinesesun, whichcancausesevere sunburnsanddehydration.
Utarianiimploredmotorbike renterstoprovidejacketsfor renters,astheynotonlyshield againstthesunbutalsofrom therainduringBali’smonsoon season.Shealsoreminded motoriststoobserveBalinese customsandtraditions,which prioritizemodestyand decorum.
Policeeffortstoimproveroad safetyandcompliancewith
trafficlawshavebeenongoing inBaliforyears.Thisisinpart duetotheisland’snotorious trafficcongestionandthe numberofaccidentsthatoccur everyyear.
AccordingtodatafromtheBali PoliceTrafficUnit,therewere 17,177trafficaccidentsinBaliin 2019alone,resultingin385 deathsand17,539injuries.The majorityoftheseaccidentswere causedbyhumanerror, includingspeedingandreckless driving.
Inresponsetothehighrateof trafficaccidentsinBali, authoritieshaveimplemented variousmeasurestoimprove roadsafety,suchasincreasing finesfortrafficviolations, installingspeedcameras,and providingroadsafetyeducation programs.
Thecallfordecencyandhealth onBali’sroadsisthelatesteffort byauthoritiestoencourage responsibledrivinghabitsand reducethenumberofaccidents ontheisland.
