•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Denpasar. A long-running child custody battle has flared up again, with US citizen Eli Gattenio arrested by the Jakarta Police’s cyber crime unit for allegedly sending his ex-wife Sari Soraya Ruka threats including an image of a tombstone inscribed with her name, birthday and a fictitious date of death.

Jakarta Police spokesman Rikwanto described the alleged threat: “On the tombstone there was inscribed, ‘Sari Soraya Ruka Gattenio: Born 26 Agustus 1975, Death: 5 Mei 2010. Mother and wife, you won’t be missed.’ ”

Rikwanto said Gattenio’s ex-wife reported that the threats had been delivered in December 2010.

“The threats were sent via SMS, MMS and e-mail to the degree that she felt unsafe and in bodily danger,” Rikwanto said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Gattenio was arrested at his home in Bali on Friday. Rikwanto said the police had taken expert language and criminal law advice before deciding to go ahead with the arrest.

Gattenio could be charged under the 2008 Information and Electronic Transactions Law, which carries a maximum penalty of 12 years imprisonment.

The couple divorced in 2010 after three years of marriage and is involved in a fight over custody of the couple’s four children, whose ages range from 4 to 12.

Rikwanto said that a police psychiatrist had examined Gattenio on Tuesday.

“He’s been evaluated, but the process is not complete,” he said. “So far, we’ve established that he is temperamental and impatient. He becomes emotional easily.”

In 2011, Gattenio threatened to blow up his Bali villa, killing himself and his daughters, if he was forced to leave the country without them. Then-Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar intervened and deferred the move in the interests of his children.