(12/6/2010)
An 60-year-old (not 18 as initially reported) Australian man, Brian Thomas Hages, has not been arrested by police in Klungkung, East Bali, despite his involvement in the shooting a 23-year-old tour guide, I Wayan Roy Prabawa.
Updating an earlier erroneous report, Kompas.com quotes the head of the criminal division of the Klungkung police precinct , Ida Bagus Putra, who confirmed that the police have not arrested the Australian gunman. Said Bagus Putra: "The suspect has been interrogated, but we have not arrested him because he is ill. In addition to being ill, the suspect Hages is of an advanced age."
When Bagus Putra was asked if police were concerned that Hages would escape, he replied that police had received a guarantee from his lawyer that this would not happen and that Hages would present himself to police whenever asked to do so.
It was also the opinion of the Klungkung police officer that the Perth, Western Australian man must face the legal consequences of shooting the Balinese man, stating that the investigative files would soon be handed to prosecutors.
Hages is the owner of the Main Sky Garden in Jungut Batu village, Klungkung, where he reportedly shot the guide.
The latest press reports now claim the shooting was committed with an air gun resulting in a wound to the right knee after a verbal altercation between the two men on Thursday, December 2, 2010.
Following the shooting, local residents reportedly advanced on the hotel seeking the 60-year Australian. Police were able to disperse the crowd without further incident.
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