Indonesia to Investigate Virgin Australia Incident

Kuta, Bali (Antara) - Indonesia will only investigate the incident related to a drunken passenger on board the Virgin Australia flight, an official said. "We as a country used for landing could only investigate to find the motive behind it," head of the Sub-Directorate of Civil Investigators and Flight Security Personnel of Air Transportation, Rico Richardo, when asked to comment on the incident here on Saturday. He said the jurisdiction for law enforcement regarding the incident lies in the hands of the Australian government since the actor involved and the aircraft came from that country. "According to the Tokyo Convention of 1963 regarding flights, criminal law enforcement authority is held by the country where the plane is registered, in this case Australia," he said. Although the convention was recently updated in Montreal, Canada, Indonesia has not yet ratified it," he added. If the convention had been recognized and ratified by the country, it would have had the authority to conduct law enforcement, he said. "It applies not only to Indonesia but also to other countries as well," he said. Based on that the results, the investigation would be later handed over to the country of the plane's origin, he said. He said the crew would soon be investigated, but declined to say where the investigation was taking place. Rico said Law number 1 of 2009 relating to aviation could not be applied to the person concerned because the plane is not registered in Indonesia and the violation was done on a foreign flagged plane. Regarding deportation, he said coordination is still to be made with the immigration office, he said. (*)