Alice Guo arrest in Indonesia may have ramifications for Gregor Haas

Murti told Indonesia’s Detik News that prisoner exchange efforts were “still being negotiated”.

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A spokeswoman for the Philippines Bureau of Immigration said no such discussions had taken place. The state-owned Philippines News Agency, however, reported on Wednesday that the Department of Justice had received the request.

Authorities in Indonesia have previously given assurances that they will not press for the death penalty if he is successfully extradited, hoping this will free the Philippines from an awkward situation with Australia, which opposes capital punishment, especially for one of its citizens.

Guo, now in Indonesia’s custody, is another bargaining chip. Haas’ family want to get him home.

Guo ran as a Filipino candidate in 2022 elections and won as mayor of the rural town of Bamban, north of Manila. She was accused of helping establish a massive complex with several buildings near the town hall as a hub for an illegal online gambling and scam outfit that catered mostly to clients in China, where gambling is forbidden.

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She has also been accused of concealing her Chinese nationality to run for public office, and some senators have suggested she may be working as a Chinese agent.

It has been alleged that her fingerprints matched those of a Chinese national, Guo Hua Ping. With the relationship between China and the Philippines at a low ebb from repeated clashes in the South China Sea, these accusations have been incendiary.

Despite her denials, Guo was dismissed from her mayoral post for grave misconduct by an agency that investigates officials accused of crimes, including graft and corruption.

In July, Marcos ordered an immediate ban on widespread and mostly Chinese-run online gaming operations, accusing them of involvement in human trafficking, torture, kidnappings and murder.

With AP and Reuters

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