THE STAR – Indonesian police have denied accusations of violence from the family of a Harvard University activist who died after being arrested on his honeymoon on the tourist island of Bali.
Rodrigo Ventosilla, 32, from Peru was detained by customs police when he arrived with his new partner, also Peruvian, his family said in a statement this week on Instagram.
A Bali police spokesman said Ventosilla had been under investigation for drug offences after suspected cannabis-derived products were found in his luggage.
Two days after he was arrested, Ventosilla was rushed to hospital and died on August 11 due to “failure of bodily functions”, said police spokesman Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto.
Bayu said Ventosilla fell ill after ingesting medication that was not part of the items confiscated by police.
Ventosilla’s family said they did not know the cause of his death, but said he was denied access to legal defence and information.
Police spokesman Bayu did not answer those accusations, but said there had been no violence and the case was now closed.
Students and faculty at the Harvard Kennedy School, where Ventosilla was studying, echoed the family’s calls for an investigation, the Harvard Crimson newspaper reported.
Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Wednesday statement that it had asked Indonesian authorities to strictly follow “the human rights of its two nationals”.
Ventosilla’s family has called on the Peruvian Foreign Ministry to do a more thorough investigation.
Indonesia has among the region’s harshest anti-narcotics laws, with penalties including capital punishment.
