US man facing deportation from Indonesia threatens to kill himself, daughters

[News_Editor]

US man facing deportation from Indonesia threatens to kill himself, daughters

2011-03-09 21:47:20 GMT+7 (ICT)

BALI (BNO NEWS) -- An American man facing deportation threatened to kill himself and his four children if he is forced to leave Indonesia without them, the Jakarta Globe reported Wednesday.

A day before he is due to be deported, American Elli Gattenio reiterated his threat to blow up his Bali villa. In protest, Gattenio has locked himself and his four daughters in his villa over the past week. The Bali Immigration Office told him to leave Indonesia or face deportation on March 10.

Gattenio, 50, lives with his four daughters, aged three to 11, in a villa in Seminyak following his divorce from an Indonesian woman, Sari Soraya Ruka, in May 2010.



"Sari [his former wife], if you see this, please for our children's sake, stop lying and surrender yourself to the police as the children wanted you to, and tell the truth," Gattenio was quoted as saying by Indonesia's SCTV.

"The children had made their choice and you walked away from them, so it is time to face the consequences," he added. 



Gattenio accused his ex-wife of taking away his immigration documents and the children's passports. He had sought help from various institutions to allow him to the leave the country with his children.



"I have filed a report to the police, the US Consulate, the Bali Immigration Office and spoken to local and foreign journalists," Gattenio said on March 3, as cited by the Jakarta Globe.



"I have sent a letter to the presidents [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and US President Barack Obama] two months ago but there has been no follow up. I am waiting for responses from the presidents or they must allow us [he and his children] to die together," he said.

Gattenio recently tried to kill himself by jumping from the rooftop of the villa, but security officers managed to persuade him otherwise.

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