The remaining 11 of 102 Taiwanese who were arrested in Indonesia for fraud were sent back to Taiwan late on Thursday, completing the repatriation of Taiwanese involved in the case, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said, amid reports that Beijing had pressured Jakarta to extradite the suspects to China.
Criminal Investigation Bureau Director-General Chou Yu-wei (周幼偉) made the comment at a news conference at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after police arrested the repatriated suspects.
The other 91 suspects who were not wanted for crimes in Taiwan were returned over the past few days, following their deportation for breaching visa conditions, he said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
The Indonesian Directorate-General of Immigration last week informed the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Indonesia that 103 Taiwanese were arrested in Bali, including one who was later revealed to be from Hong Kong, he said.
The suspects, 10 men and one woman, are mostly from Taichung and were wanted in Taiwan for fraud, money laundering, false imprisonment and other charges, Chou said.
They boarded China Airlines Flight CI762 under guard and arrived at the Taoyuan airport at 9:15pm, where they were arrested and handed to the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office.
The Taiwanese-Indonesian operation showed the government’s resolve to bring suspects to justice and fight crime with global partners, Chou said.
However, the timely intervention by officials in Taipei narrowly prevented the extradition of the Taiwanese to China, a source with knowledge of the matter said, on condition of anonymity.
Fearing Beijing’s interference, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) convened government officials to deal with the incident immediately after learning of the arrests, the source said.
Lin and Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) coordinated with the Taiwanese diplomatic corps and police in Indonesia, amid immense political pressure from Beijing for Jakarta to hand over the detainees, the source said.
The Indonesian government did not bow to Chinese pressure and ordered the suspects to be deported to Taiwan, with those not wanted for crimes going first, they said.
Jakarta did not want to be embroiled in a dispute between Taiwan and China and was wary of prosecuting Internet-based fraud that targeted people living outside its jurisdiction, they said.
Taiwanese police obtained materials from their Indonesian counterparts that would be used to prosecute the deportees in Taiwan, including laptops and 400 phones, they said.
Transporting the electronic devices under flight safety restrictions and the availability of air tickets caused some delays in the deportation proceedings, the source said.
Taiwanese who break the law in a foreign country could be prosecuted again in Taiwan for the same offense, a bureau spokesman said.
Additional reporting by Chiu Chun-fu
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