Seven Balinese police officers are now facing serious repercussions from an Australian buck’s night that ended in scandal (i.e. alleged pistol whipping, tasering, and a big-ass bribe) back in February 2015.
The officers will reportedly stand trial for extortion after an investigation by Bali Propam (police internal affairs) confirmed that the officers received a bribe.
When Bali Deputy Police Chief Nyoman Suryasta was asked if the extortion happened, he replied: “Correct,” according to News Corp Australia. But he apparently did not confirm the extent of the extortion, whether it totaled the AUD25,000 that had been alleged.
What next? The Balinese officers will be dealt with firmly after they “damaged the name of Indonesian police, especially Bali police,” Suryasta said, as quoted by Fairfax Media.
Their fate is up to the trial judge, but Suryasta reportedly said the officers could be fired, or on the lenient end of the scale, would be an apology.
Just a day before, Kuta Police Chief Dedy Januarta denied any of his officers asked for a bribe and even showed a handwritten statement apparently signed by the buck’s night party, according to Fairfax Media.
Reports broke out in June of Australian former model and marketing consultant Mark Ipaviz’s Bali buck’s night gone wrong. The buck’s group had apparently hired a stripper at a high-scale restaurant in Seminyak, claiming they cleared everything beforehand with the venue. But, local security guards violently stormed the party, allegedly pistol whipping, tasering, and threatening the Australian men. The Aussies say police then showed up and threatened them with indecency charges carrying 10 years prison time unless they coughed up AUD25,000 on the spot.
