VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Bali immigration authorities deported two US citizens, identified as Risten Antoinette Gray and Saundra Michelle Alexander, on grounds of having violating immigration rules while staying in the world-renowned tourist island.

"They were flown to Jakarta under the escort of four immigration officers. They will depart from Jakarta to the US via Tokyo by American Air at 6:30 WIB (Western Indonesian Time)," Erwin Siregar, Kristen Antoinette Gray's lawyer, stated on Wednesday.

The two US citizens were declared negative for COVID-19 after undergoing a swab test six hours earlier, he remarked.

Both Gray and Alexander claimed to not be guilty, he noted.

"He (Gray) said he was not guilty. If he was considered guilty, he would apologize," he remarked.

Meanwhile, the immigration authorities in the jurisdiction of the Bali Office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry had yet to issue an official statement on the deportation.

Earlier, Chief of the Bali Office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry Jamaruli Manihuruk, who quoted the result of the investigation conducted by the Denpasar immigration office, noted that the two US citizens had spread information that could fuel public unrest.

The information came in the form of LGBTQF (queer-friendly) wherein Bali Province offers unquestionable comfort and easy access to the Indonesian territory during the pandemic.

Both US citizens were charged for violating article 75, paragraph (1) of Immigration Law No. 6 of 2011.

They were also accused of doing business through e-book sale and tourism consulting service in Bali. (antaranews)