Eight foreigners arrested for immigration violations

JAKARTA (JP): Immigration officers have arrested eight foreigners at several places in Central Jakarta in the past week for violating immigration permits, according to an official.

Immigration Director of Foreigners Control Coordination Zaiman Nurmatias said Tuesday the suspects were from Ghana, Morocco, South Korea, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and Bangladesh.

"They were apprehended on different days from May 28 until Tuesday," he said.

Zaiman did not explain whether the foreigners were netted in a special operation or by plainclothes officers.

According to him, a suspect identified as Bovali Said from Morocco was netted on May 28 while withdrawing money from a BCA automated teller machine at the Djakarta Theater building.

During initial examination, the Moroccan claimed to be Indonesian and a resident of Bogor as stated on his identification card, he said.

"However, he could not locate his precise residence," Zaiman said.

The man could not sing the national anthem nor recite the tenets of state ideology Pancasila, he added.

The suspect later claimed to be a player of Surabaya-based Assyabaab Salim Group soccer club and produced a letter signed by an officer from the All Indonesian Soccer Federation (PSSI), Dali Tahir.

The letter stated that Bovali, a former junior soccer player in Morocco, was a playing team member of the Indonesian soccer league.

But the immigration office has enough evidence to charge him for allegedly counterfeiting his identification card, said Zaiman.

He gave no details about the arrest of the other seven suspects. (jun)