Indonesia Pursues Criminal Charges Against Chinese Diver Who Hunted Turtles in Raja Ampat

A Chinese freediving instructor is facing criminal prosecution in Indonesia. Video footage circulated online showing what appeared to be a sea turtle being spearfished in one of the world's most protected marine areas. He was stopped before he could leave the country.

Wei Shang, an AIDA International-certified instructor trainer, was detained at Makassar's Sultan Hasanuddin Airport on September 14 as he tried to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur. Immigration officers had flagged him after the video spread, showing a diver apparently targeting a turtle near the Pam Islands, a cluster of reef-fringed outcrops inside Raja Ampat's marine conservation zone in West Papua. A dead hawksbill turtle was found drifting near Misokoon Island afterward.

Wei Shang had entered Indonesia on a tourist visa. He tried to reroute his departure from Bali to Kuala Lumpur while transiting through Makassar. Officials said that looked like an attempt to slip out of the country before an investigation could begin. He was transferred to the Sorong Immigration Office for questioning.

On September 18, Immigration Director General Hendarsam Marantoko announced that the government would push for criminal charges rather than administrative deportation. "In principle, we will examine it, and it appears the case should enter the criminal sphere," Marantoko said. The charges being weighed span immigration criminal provisions and laws governing conservation of biological natural resources.

Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered. Under Indonesian law and international treaty, hunting them inside a protected zone is a serious offence. Raja Ampat is one of the most biodiverse marine environments on earth, and its conservation status carries strict legal weight. Spearfishing within the zone carries penalties separate from the immigration violations already on the table, and prosecutors could stack charges from multiple statutes.

Authorities were still waiting for Wei Shang's lawyer and interpreter before conducting a formal examination of his immigration documents. The investigation was being handled jointly by immigration enforcement and the police's special criminal investigations unit.

Raja Ampat district officials had separately requested his continued detention to ensure proceedings could continue without him leaving the country. That request, it turned out, was well-timed.