The Prosecutor's Office Helps Free 6 Indonesian Citizens Victims Of TIP In Bangkok

Documentation of the legal advocacy process provided by the Attorney General's Office of the Republic of Indonesia at the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok to release and repatriate six Indonesian citizens who were victims of TIP in Thailand. BETWEEN/HO-The Indonesian Attorney General's Office.

The Attorney General's Office at the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) Bangkok, Thailand, helped free six Indonesian citizens (WNI) who were victims of a criminal act of trafficking in persons (TPPO) who were subject to legal cases in the country, one of which was because they entered illegally. Head of the Legal Information Center (Kapuspenkum) of the Attorney General's Office, Ketut Sumedana, said that the Attorney General's Attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok, Virgaliano Nahan, submitted a request for the termination of prosecution to the Tokyo Rai Court in Thailand for the six Indonesian citizens because they were victims of TIP. "As of 6 months since the request for termination of prosecution was submitted by the Attorney General's Office of the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok, finally on July 25, 2023, the Howli Rai Court has allowed the Prosecutor's Office to stop prosecuting the six victims of the TIP. Therefore, the six victims of the TIP will return to Indonesia in the near future while waiting for the immigration process," said Ketut Sumedana in an official broadcast in Jakarta, Antara, Sunday, July 30. He explained that the termination of prosecution was due to the reason the suspects were victims of the TIP which first occurred in Thailand. "Therefore, it must go through a long process from the Attorney General of Thailand in Bangkok and the Prosecutor's Office of Tokyo Rai Province," he said. The six Indonesian citizens who were victims of TIP, namely Eric Febrian, Raindy Wijaya, Hendriant Tritrahadi, Chelsy Alviana, and Andrean Faust. They were detained by law enforcement authorities atung Rai, Thailand in July 2022. Six victims who were smuggled in from Tachilek, Myanmar, were detained by authorities inung Rai for violating several rules, including entering Thai territory illegally, violating COVID-19 protocols, and fleeing trials for illegal charges. In the process, the six Indonesian citizens in November 2022 were designated as victims of TIP by Thai authorities at Mae Sot (Department Anti-Trafficking in Persons/DAIP). However, the six people were still unable to return to Indonesia because of a detention order from the Tokyo Rai Court. The six victims were released from custody because there were parties who guaranteed them. However, they were smuggled back into Myawadee, Myanmar, through Mae Sot Province in Thailand. In Myawadee, the six Indonesian citizens were forced to work as fraudsters in cyberspace for 3 months until they were finally returned by a fraud syndicate to Mae Sot, Thailand. Upon his return to Thailand, the whereabouts of the victims of the TIP were known to be representatives of the Republic of Indonesia in Bangkok. The Indonesian Attorney General's Attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok immediately contacted the Thai Attorney General's Office and informed them of their TIP status, as well as their condition which was unable to return to the country due to an order to detain the Tokyo Rai Court. Authorities in Thailand initially could not release the six Indonesian citizens because they were deemed to have gone through a legal process and served their sentences. However, the Attorney General's Office of the Republic of Indonesia's Attache prepared legal arguments, one of which stated that the victims could not be prosecuted for criminal acts they had to commit as victims. The argument is in line with the contents of the Palermo Convention, which aims to protect the victims of the TIP.

The Attorney General's Office in Bangkok also sent evidence showing that the six Indonesian citizens were victims of TIP to the Prosecutor's Office in Thailand so that their prosecution had to be stopped.