That's how a recent letter from an advertiser in Bali expressed fears about publicizing Eleven Demons.

But entirely untrue:

There is no controversy at all about the facts: even if discounting every statement of the author, a very small set of official documents sworn by Made Jati or her attorneys or the courts in Indonesia and California entirely support Eleven Demons. They are highlighted in the Chapter References list in RED.

• Michael Donnelly and Made Jati married in California in 1985. Marriage 1985
• Made Jati filed an Accusation of Divorce in 2005 without mentioning that marriage, and she claimed a Bali Hindu marriage in Kuta in 1996. With the children born in 1993 and 1994, a 1996 marriage would have made them anak haram or bastards born out of wedlock and would have erased Michael's legal rights as a father. Accusation of Divorce
• In that Accusation, Made Jati claimed that Michael was not a member of the family, she entered a Family Registration Card from 1997 to prove it, and with that she claimed sole custody of the children. Family Registration Card 1997
• The Decision of the National Court in Denpasar accepted Made Jati's and her witnesses' claims of a 1996 marriage (although her witnesses claimed the marriage took place in 1996 in Sanur, not Kuta). The court granted a divorce based upon a 1996 Bali marriage and granted sole custody of the children to Made Jati. Decision of National Court Denpasar
• Austrindo Law Office failed to enter a Memo of Appeal to the High Court, and the High Court upheld the Decision of the National Court. Decision of the High Court Denpasar
• In a later Reply to Accusation of Action Contrary to Law, Made Jati admitted that, contrary to her and her witnesses' statements in the Accusation of Divorce:
  • the actual Bali Hindu marriage ceremony occurred in 1994 (but this time in Tabanan, not Kuta or Sanur), and
  • the original marriage occured in Los Angeles, California in 1985.
  Reply by Made Jati to "Action Contrary to Law"

Subsequent decisions by the Supreme Court of Indonesia ruled that the 1985 California marriage was valid in Indonesia and was now ended by divorce Decision of the Supreme Court of Indonesia, that a reinforcing Bali Hindu ceremony occurred in Sanur (not Kuta or Tabanan) in 1994, that Made Jati's acquisition of new marriage documents in Denpasar in 1996 was an Action Contrary to Law - that is, illegal - and her new documents had no power under law.

Made Jati's Extraordinary Appeals on both these Supreme Court decisions were rejected by the court. Rejection of PK by the Supreme Court of Indonesia

Made Jati's own Bali attorney, Ida Bagus Wikantara, advised her to abandon her children and flee California rather than cooperate with court orders for deposition and visitation with the children. Declaration of Ida Bagus Wikantara

The California Superior Court granted complete custody to Michael, expressing reluctance to do so but stating that Made Jati had abandoned her children and had given the court no other choice in the matter. Decision of the Superior Court of California

The cases are not on-going. The Divorce and Action Contrary to Law cases are finished and rejected in Extraordinary Appeal by the Supreme Court of Indonesia. The decision of the California Superior Court is final, the boys are now 17 and 19 years old, and there are are no further custody issues. Criminal investigations are continuing, but there is no statement in Eleven Demons which either depends upon results of criminal investigations for corroboration or could impact an investigation.

It's true that Made Jati still refuses to make a settlement of assets and a division of assets case is now at the Supreme Court, but nothing in Eleven Demons could have any possible impact on that case.

Controversial and high profile cannot, by definition, also be at the same time highly personal. All documents and court proceeding are matters of public record, and all events have been widely commented on publicly by Made Jati and her supporters. In fact, a support group known as "Made's Angels" conducted a very public email and letter campaign about the case, widely publicized by Made Jati herself - her lawyer claims she gathered "literally countless" letters, and I know Made Jati can count pretty high - and which she even submitted as public evidence to the California Superior Court .

It is true, however, that the events recounted in Eleven Demons are highly embarrassing to a number of people who would rather their actions not be widely known. This is not unusual.

There are laws - known in Indonesia as criminal fitnah or "libel" - to deal with false statements. But a condition of the law is that the statements must be false. Considering that Made Jati abandoned her children and fled California rather than cooperate with court orders to testify in deposition - to avoid anything, according to her attorney Ida Bagus Wikantara, "which might later cause difficulties in defending her in Indonesia" - it's unlikely that Made Jati would now wish to reopen directly these issues in Indonesia.

"On-going case" is a good excuse, however; Ida Bagus Wikantara himself used it when he advised Made Jati to abandon her children in California although that excuse had no legal foundation. But the real reason is as discussed in this website (Mafia of the Gods, Corruption in Bali, Made's Angels) and to be covered in more detail in the second book Mafia Dewata: many expatriates and Indonesians in Bali live in fear, no matter how they deny it, of powerlessness in the face of threats, violence, and lack of recourse to law.

The real key words here are not "controversial" or "on-going case." They are "death threat" and "Law Mafia."

What's "on-going" here is not a case; it's a situation, a condition of daily life in Bali.