Eat, Love, Pray—and Run Away! We Receive a Death Threat

 

In August 2007 while our two boys and I were on vacation in California, I received an anonymous email from Indonesia with a death threat. I left the boys with their grandparents and immediately flew to Bali.

Made Jati refused to meet me. Gary and I returned to Kori Restaurant, where I hoped to place him back in his management position, but a group of premen threatened us and chased us out.

That marked the end for Gary. He decided it would be safer to leave Bali and he moved to Jakarta.

And on the strong advice of the U.S. Embassy, I decided to stay in California for the safety of the children.

California

For the next nine months Made Jati refused to communicate with me until in March 2008 she suddenly appeared in California and filed for custody in California Superior Court.

When I revealed the background of the case in Indonesia to the court, the judge ordered Made Jati to cooperate with testimony in a deposition, meet together with the children and me for an evaluation by a psychologist, participate in mediation, and continue visitation with the children.

Made Jati immediately fled California with the excuse that she did not want to cause stress to the children.

The true reason was entered to the court in a Declaration from her attorney in Bali, Ida Bagus Wikantara SH. He stated: “I, the legal counselor defending her case that is still in progress in Indonesia, do not want to run any risks no matter how small…which might later cause difficulties in defending her in Indonesia. Therefore, I advised my client to immediately return home to Indonesia.”

The judge ruled that Made Jati had abandoned her children, she issued a Restraining Order against Made Jati, and she ordered Made Jati to pay child support. To present, Made Jati continues to refuse all communication with me or her children and refuses to help with child support.

The California Court in 2010 issued an Arrest Warrant for Made Jati on fifty counts of Contempt of Court.

Decision of the Supreme Court of Indonesia

In Indonesia, however, the divorce case finally reached a conclusion.

In 2007 the Supreme Court overturned the lower court decisions and declared the California marriage of 1985 valid in Indonesia and ended by divorce.

It also ruled that Made Jati’s acquisition of a new Marriage Certificate in 1996 while the California marriage was still in effect was an Action Contrary to Law.

Made Jati immediately filed an Extraordinary Appeal, but her appeal was rejected in 2009.

Reaction of the Bali Police and the Sixth Police Report

The decision of the Supreme Court had little practical effect in Bali. Made Jati still controlled Uluwatu, Kori and all the other assets and she still refused communication or settlement.

And once I was no longer in Bali, the police quickly abandoned all the cases, including the Fraud case which had shuttled to and fro between Polda Bali and the prosecutor's office thirteen times for over a year.

With that, of course, Made Jati had no reason to reach a settlement.

So by law and by decision of the Supreme Court, I had rights to fifty percent of the marital assets. But under apparent protection of the Bali police who were unwilling to enforce the law, Made Jati ignored the decision and kept the assets.

She also had responsibility for fifty percent of the love, care and support of the children, but she ignored them as well and continues to refuse all communication with them.

In February 2009 I filed another police report for Perjury, this time at the National Police Headquarters—Mabes Polri—in Jakarta. Despite letters and instructions from Mabes Polri, Polda Bali stopped the investigation with an excuse so defiantly flimsy that it appears to have been meant as an insult or challenge to Mabes Polri.

 

April 2007   —   Made Jati, Ni Nyoman Suti and Heru Widiyanto Reported at Polda Bali for Perjury

 

The message from Polda Bali to Mabes Polri appears to be: "Keep your hands off Bali."

So Who Sent the Threat?

Tracing the internet routing addresses, the email was sent from South Jakarta at a moment Made Jati was in Bali. South Jakarta is where most expatriates in Jakarta live. The email is short but contains strong indications that it was written by an expatriate attempting to make it appear as if written by an Indonesian. Thirteen days after the first threat, a second anonymous email clearly written by an expatriate acquainted with me was sent from the same location.

Made Jati refused to meet with me to discuss the threat. The threat was a subject for the California court deposition which Ida Bagus Wikantara advised his client to flee. Since then I have repeatedly proposed hiring a former FBI agent to conduct an investigation, but Made Jati has refused to cooperate. She appears to be covering for someone, and the source of the threat remains a mystery.