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January 24, 2025 | 11:05 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Directorate General of Immigration has detained two Chinese nationals, LB and LJ, for spreading false accusations against officers at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Immigration Checkpoint.
“The foreign nationals, LB and LJ, are currently detained at the Directorate General of Immigration and are awaiting repatriation to their home country,” said Acting Director General of Immigration, Saffar Muhammad Godam, in a written statement on Friday, January 24, 2025.
On January 17, 2025, LB and LJ uploaded a video to their TikTok account @stellaroptics888 alleging extortion by immigration officers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport. This video quickly went viral.
In response, Godam said the Directorate General of Immigration promptly conducted an internal investigation, reviewing surveillance camera footage from the foreign nationals' arrival to their departure from the immigration inspection area.
The investigation revealed that LB and LJ had initially entered through the wrong route, designated for priority passengers. Immigration officers then directed them to the correct area for international arrivals, as per standard procedures. This entire interaction was captured on the airport's CCTV cameras.
According to Godam, the CCTV footage provided no evidence to support the extortion allegations. “There was no admission from our officers regarding the receipt of any money,” he added.
On January 20, 2025, a subsequent video was uploaded to the @stellaroptics888 account, in which the account owner apologized and retracted the previous allegations.
Godam further clarified that the Rp500,000 brought by the foreigners was used to pay the visa on arrival (VoA) fee. Despite this, the Immigration authorities conducted a direct clarification interview with LB and LJ regarding their statements in both videos.
During the clarification interview, LB and LJ maintained their stance as stated in the second video. “LB and LJ will face sanctions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations for their actions,” concluded Godam.
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