Indonesian authorities have issued a travel ban to US President Donald Trump’s Indonesian business partner after he was accused of threatening the deputy attorney general, officials said on Monday.
Billionaire Hary Tanoesoedibjo is banned from leaving Indonesia from June 22 to July 12 in reference to the case, which is being investigated by the national police’s criminal investigation unit, said Agung Sampurno, a spokesman for Indonesia’s immigration authority.
He said the travel ban might be prolonged on the request of the police.
The 51-year-old tycoon Tanoesoedibjo, higher often called Tanoe, can also be an aspiring politician with ambitions to run for president of Indonesia in 2019. His company plans to begin constructing two resorts in Indonesia this yr, with which Trump’s business is linked through management and licensing offers.
National police spokesman Rikwanto said Tanoe is accused of sending threats last yr via text messages to Yulianto, the deputy attorney general for special crimes who was investigating a 2009 bribery case related to Mobile-8 Telecom, a telecommunications company whose Tanoe once owned it. Police plan to query Tanoe next week.
Rikwanto said Yulianto reported the Tanoe case to police early last yr after receiving threatening messages from the tycoon, possibly related to tax refund crimes against considered one of Tanoe’s corporations. Like many Indonesians, Rikwanto and Yulianto use just one name.
Under Indonesian law, using technology to threaten people is punishable by as much as 4 years in prison.
Tanoe’s lawyer, Hotman Paris Hutapea, denied the allegations, saying the messages sent from Tanoe’s cellular phone didn’t contain any threats against a selected person.
“My client has no intention of threatening any person,” Hutapea said, calling the case “politically motivated.”
