The Suspect Sending Child Labor From Dompu To Saudi Arabia Was Transferred To The NTB Prosecutor's Office

The police escorted the suspect who recruited a child-age PMI with the initials IS (left) who was caught in Jakarta, upon arrival at International Zainuddin Abdul Madjid Airport, NTB, Friday (9/12/2022). (ANTARA/HO-Polda NTB)

West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Regional Police (Polda) handed over files and suspects in the case of sending child-age workers from Dompu Regency to Saudi Arabia.

Head of Sub-Division of Youth, Children and Women of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation of the NTB Police, Adjunct Senior Commissioner of Police Ni Made Pujawati, said investigators transferred the file belonging to the suspect IS from Jakarta to the investigating prosecutor at the NTB High Prosecutor's Office (Kejati).

"So, now we are just waiting for the results of the research file by the prosecutor. If there are clues, we will immediately complete it," said Pujawati in Mataram, NTB, Thursday, January 12, quoted by Antara.

The transfer of the suspect IS file was carried out at the end of 2022. In completing the file, Pujawati said investigators had included evidence that corroborated indications that IS violated the Law on the Eradication of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons (TPPO).

In accordance with the criminal charges applied to Article 6, Article 10, Article 11 in conjunction with Article 4 of Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning the Eradication of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons (TPPO), suspect IS faces a minimum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of at least Rp120 million.

The police revealed that this case began with a victim's complaint to his parents who live in Dompu district, while still working as a household assistant in Saudi Arabia.

During three months working in Arabia, the victim told his parents that he had never received a salary according to the perpetrator's promise of Rp. 15 million per month. In fact, while working in Arabia, the victim admitted that he often received harsh treatment from the employer and almost became a victim of sexual violence.

The victim's parents, who heard their child's story, panicked and reported this to the NTB Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Service Center (BP3MI).

The report was then followed up by BP3MI NTB to the center and coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The presence of victims was detected in Arabia by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After being found, the victim was immediately sent home and made a police report at the NTB Police.

From the results of the victim's examination, it was revealed the role of IS as a recruiter. The victim was introduced to IS by two of his colleagues with the initials SL and NS who are also PMI in Saudi Arabia.

However, because the victim's age is still classified as a child, IS made a fake identity in Jakarta by changing the victim's birth year to enter the adult category.

The IS suspect was later arrested on December 9, 2022. During the arrest, the police carried out developments at IS's house in Jakarta.

From the results of the search, the police confiscated evidence that allegedly corroborated the role of IS as a recruiter of migrant workers. The evidence is in the form of 16 passports known to belong to residents from Sulawesi, Sukabumi, and Madura.

After the arrest in Jakarta, the police immediately took IS along with evidence to Mataram and detained him at the NTB Police Detention Center.