PETALING JAYA, Jan 13 — Foreigners in Bali were filmed arguing with the police after they refused to leave a restaurant and adhere to the Covid-19 curfew.
A video of the incident that took place on Monday night at a business in Petitenget, Badung, made the rounds on Instagram earlier this week.
The clip shows some foreigners having a heated argument with the police with raised voices.
One of the officers can be heard trying to explain the health and safety protocols to one of the foreigners, who was not wearing a face mask.
Public Order Agency chief of the Badung regency I Gusti Agung Ketut Suryanegara told news portal Kompas that the foreigners claimed that they were not done with their meal when asked by the police to leave.
However, Suryanegara noted that the plates and glasses on their table were already empty when the police arrived and that they were all busy chatting instead of eating.
“We told them it was 9pm and the restaurant had to close.
“There was no way around it, if they wanted to keep eating, they would have to pack up the food and take it home,” he said.
The foreigners, who were of Eastern European origin, then launched into a 30-minute argument with the police over the Covid-19 curfew.
They eventually gave up the fight and agreed to leave the restaurant.
Indonesia has imposed more restrictions in Java and Bali that will last until January 25 in an attempt to rein in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shopping centres and restaurants are required to close by 9pm in certain parts of Bali, including Badung where the incident took place.
Suryanegara noted that 15 businesses in the regency have already received warnings for staying open past the 9pm curfew this week.
Twenty-eight people were also reprimanded by police for not wearing masks in public and 20 of them were identified as foreigners.
