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Bali Police chief appointed immigration boss

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has given Bali Police chief Insp

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Sat, July 25, 2015 Published on Jul. 25, 2015 Published on 2015-07-25T16:29:51+07:00

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resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has given Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie his dream job as director general of immigration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

National Police chief Badrodin Haiti confirmed the President'€™s decision on the two-star general, who is scheduled to retire from police service in 2018.

With his new position, Ronny would leave the police force and become a civil servant, Badrodin said.

'€œI have received [confirmation]. We are just waiting for the presidential decree,'€ said the police chief on Friday.

Ronny was installed as Bali Police chief in March this year, moving from the National Police, where he had served as spokesman.

Ronny was a familiar figure on TV and in print media last month as the nation became transfixed by the story of the murder of 8-year-old girl Engeline. Her body was found on June 10, three weeks after her adopted mother Margriet Megawe pleaded for public help to find the girl, whom she claimed was missing.

Amid national outrage over the death, the police named Margriet the main suspect in the murder, along with gardener Agustay '€œAgus'€ Hamda May.

'€œFor the time being, [Margriet] is the main suspect,'€ '€œRonny announced on June 28.

When Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly announced an open recruitment for the vacant director general position at his ministry in May, Ronny registered his name with full approval from Badrodin.

The position became vacant a few months before Jokowi came to power in October last year following the retirement of Bambang Irawan.

Then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono refused to appoint a new immigration boss, saying he wanted to let his successor make the decision.

Ronny said he had been driven to apply for the post because he believed he could contribute to improving the immigration office.

'€œI came to register myself, because this recruitment is open to the public,'€ the 53-year-old said at the time.

The immigration office is widely deemed to have improved considerably in recent years, with new services including an online passport payment system introduced in July last year with the aim of stamping out corruption and bribery.

The National Police, however, named former deputy law and human rights minister Denny Indrayana a suspect in a case related to the online payment system in March.

Ronny, meanwhile, declined to comment on his new position. '€œI have not received the official letter [from the President],'€ he said on Friday.

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