Immigration hands over legal proceedings of three Australian foreign nationals to the Attorney General's Office

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Directorate General of Immigration, Ministry of Immigration and Correctional Services, has handed over the further legal proceedings of three Australian foreign nationals to the Attorney General’s Office for trial in connection with illegal entry into Indonesia.

Immigration Director General Hendarsam Marantoko, at the Directorate General of Immigration office in Jakarta on Thursday, stated that the three Australian nationals, initialled YPD as the aircraft pilot and two passengers ZA and DTL, are suspected of violating the Immigration Law by entering Indonesia illegally via Merauke aboard a PA Cessna aircraft owned by Stirling Helicopters airline.

“If we’re using the term, they committed ‘illegal entry’, entering unlawfully,” said Hendarsam.

The chronology of the case occurred around early November 2025, when the aircraft carrying four people—three Australian foreign nationals and one Indonesian national acting as co-pilot—obtained flight permission from Australia to Indonesia, travelling from Cairns International Airport in Australia to Mopah Airport in Merauke, Indonesia.

It then transited at Port Stewart Airport in Australia to pick up two passengers without valid travel documents and visas.

“Port Stewart Airport is a runway without immigration officers,” he said.

He noted that the two aircraft passengers were not listed in the flight manifest. Upon landing in Merauke, they were detected by immigration officers and subjected to intensive checks.

Subsequently, the three Australian foreign nationals were brought to the Directorate General of Immigration for detention on 2 December 2025. Then, on 15 December 2025, a letter initiating the investigation was issued against the three Australian foreign nationals and one Indonesian national.

During the investigation process, the three Australian foreign nationals were held at Salemba Detention Centre in Jakarta, and on 8 April 2026, the case file was declared complete (P-21) by the Attorney General’s Office.

Immigration officers then transferred the suspects along with evidence for immediate trial to the Merauke District Prosecutor’s Office.

Director of Supervision and Enforcement of the Directorate General of Immigration Yuldi Yusman confirmed that the two Australian foreign nationals who were the stowaway passengers on the aircraft are fugitives who had recently been released from prison for drug cases in Australia.

“A small amount of methamphetamine, less than one gram, was also found,” he said.

Based on the investigation results, the two were on city arrest status, so their motive for coming to Indonesia was to escape.

“Why Merauke? Because it’s the closest distance to Australia, and the aircraft they boarded was a small plane,” said Yuldi.

Meanwhile, Deputy Head of the Pratut Sub-Directorate of Directorate C of the Attorney General’s Office’s Criminal Investigation Division, Hadiman, stated that the handover of the suspects and case evidence for the three Australian foreign nationals to the Merauke District Prosecutor’s Office will take place next Wednesday.

After the handover, it will proceed with proof in the trial, estimated to take about a week after the handover is carried out.