The office earlier planned to deport the two, but it later received instructions to file the charges after news of the case reached high-ranking officials in Jakarta, according to the Batam Immigration Office supervision and enforcement head, Rafli.

"This case has reach high-ranking folks in Jakarta. So we are waiting for confirmation to file criminal charges," Rafli told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The two Britons have been identified as Neil Bonner, 31, and Becky Prosser, 30. They are currently being held at the immigration detention center.

According to Rafli, if found guilty, they could face more than two years in prison for making the documentary without a license or more than three years for immigration violations.

Nine Indonesians were arrested along with the two Britons as the group was filming footage around Belakang Padang Island, Batam, around midnight on Thursday.

He said the 11 people were on board two motorized boats when they were arrested. They were waiting for a ship that, according to the scenario, was to be attacked by pirates and recorded by the two Britons.

The Britons are crew members of a production house that was to sell the documentary to National Geographic.

All the players in the documentary were former pirates who resided on Belakang Padang Island, which is why they were hired to help reconstruct an act of piracy and why they were being monitored by the Indonesian Navy. (ren)(+++)

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