Auj-e Taqaddas, the British woman who notoriously slapped an immigration official at Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport after being asked to pay a hefty overstay fine last July had to be forcibly escorted to court to attend today’s verdict hearing. Her aggressive behavior led prosecutors to handcuff her, provoking yet another characteristic outburst of shouting, name-calling, and even kicking.
Taqaddas was picked up while hanging out in front of Lippo Mall Kuta and raw footage posted on YouTube by local media outlet Tribun Bali captures the whole ugly incident.
According to a report by detiknews, officials had been monitoring Taqaddas since Saturday, presumably on the suspicion that she would try and cancel her appointment by claiming sickness yet again.
“The defendant has defaulted on attending trial three times. So we had the [legal] right to use force to bring the defendant to court,” said Waher Tarihoran, the section head of Badung Prosecutor’s Office.
Taqaddas’ day didn’t get any better as the panel of judges sentenced her to six months prison time for slapping the immigration officer.
“The defendant, Auj-e Taqaddas, was legally and convincingly proven guilty of committing a criminal act against the official who was on duty. She has been sentenced to six months in prison,” said the head judge on the panel, Esthar Oktavi.
Unsurprisingly, Taqaddas reacted angrily to the verdict, accusing the prosecutors of an unfair trial.
“This is Indonesian law, prosecutors, judges and police are corrupt,” she said repeatedly. “I will appeal against this decision because the whole legal process is unfair. There is no defense for me, I am fighting this case alone and the judge only gave me the opportunity to speak once before the verdict,” she continued, as quoted by the source.
Oktavi noted that Taqaddas’ bad attitude had not helped her case. And we have to agree — since the initial slapping video went viral, the Lahore-born British national has made headlines for screaming at hotel staff, threatening to break journalists’ cameras, and charging a security guard with a broom.
Taqaddas became an overnight viral sensation last July when footage was released of her cussing at a poor immigration officer and angrily slapping him across the face. She was reportedly furious after being asked to pay a huge fine for overstaying her Indonesian visitor’s visa by by 160 days.
