20th October 2022 – A couple from Australia and Japan insulted and assaulted an immigration officer in Soekarno-Hatta Airport when being called out for overstaying. The couple were Maziar Darvishi from Australia and Megumi Tadatsu from Japan who meant to leave for Australia with their two children using the QF45 plane.
Based on the evaluation of their immigration documents, they have overstayed for two days. That simply exceeded the Immigration Law No.6/2011 ,and an additional charge or fine has to be paid. However, the foreigners refused to pay the additional charge for overstaying.
Maziar was enraged and assaulted an officer by throwing a brown envelope at them. In addition to that, he also raised his middle finger at the officer. Showing his middle finger was considered an act of humiliation and condescension to the officer in charge at the investigator room of the Soekarno-Hatta TPIN Special Class 1 Immigration Office.
It was known that the reason Maziar was angered is that he and his family did not make it to Australia since the officer had to hold their passports. After the outrage, the family immediately left the office.
The Head of Immigration at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Muhammad Tito Andrianto, said that the actions of the two foreigners towards the officer offended the Immigration of the Republic of Indonesia.
As for Maziar and Megumi, the two have publicly apologized to Soekarno-Hatta Immigration accompanied by the Australian and Japanese Embassies.
“I apologize for my actions in insulting the officers,” Maziar said in his clarification on Wednesday (19/10).
Furthermore, Megumi also offered the same apology by saying that she apologized for her actions to the immigration officer on duty, and she have done wrong by overstaying.
During this meeting, Maziar and Megumi promised not to repeat their actions again and were willing to pay an the fine. Maziar requested the immigration authorities not to report them to the police.
