October 17, 2025
DENPASAR – Three Australians accused of fatally shooting a fellow countryman in Badung regency, Bali, earlier this year, have been charged with premeditated murder. A crime that carries the maximum penalty of death under Indonesian law.
Badung Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Arif Batubara said that the trial of the suspects, Darcy Francesco Jenson, 27, Mevlut Coskun, 22, and Tupou Pasa I Midolmore, 26, can proceed as police have completed the investigation and handed over the case file to the Badung Prosecutor’s Office.
“We have officially handed over the suspects and evidence to prosecutors today,” Arif said on Wednesday, adding that the investigation faced no major obstacles.
Head of the Badung Prosecutor’s Office, Sutrisno Margi Utama, said the three Australians will be charged under Article 340 of the Criminal Code for premeditated murder and Article 1 of the 1951 Emergency Law for the illegal possession of firearms.
“The suspects will remain in detention at Kerobokan Prison while awaiting trial,” he added.
Read also: Two foreign tourists arrested for robbery targeting money changers in Bali
Zivan Radmanovic, 32, was killed shortly after midnight on June 14 after two armed assailants stormed his villa in Badung, Bali and opened fire. A second Australian national, Sanar Ghanim, 34, at the scene, sustained gunshot wounds.
The attackers reportedly arrived and fled the scene on motorcycles. Witnesses described the shooters as wearing jackets resembling those worn by ojol (motorcycle transportation) drivers and black helmets, and speaking English with what appeared to be an Australian accent.
Police launched a manhunt immediately after the attack. Coskun and Midolmore were arrested in Singapore days after the shooting, with assistance from Interpol. Jenson was apprehended at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten, shortly after Coskun and Midolmore’s arrest, as he attempted to board a flight to Singapore.
Police have not disclosed a motive for the shooting, stating that further details will be revealed during the trial proceedings.
However, former National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Comr. Gen. Marthinus Hukom had suggested the incident may be linked to an international drug syndicate.
He argued that if the shooting had been purely driven by personal motives, the suspects would not have waited until Radmanovic was in Bali to carry out the attack, especially given that all of them came from the same country.
“This is a case of transnational crime. These groups are turning Bali into a battleground for global drug trafficking operations,” Marthinus said on July 17.
Bali has experienced a troubling rise in violent crimes committed by foreign nationals in recent years, amid a surge in overtourism on the island.
Read also: Suspect linked to robbery of Ukrainian in Bali added to Interpol Red List
In December of last year, a Ukrainian man, 48, identified only by his initials IL, was allegedly kidnapped and robbed in Kuta, a tourist hot spot in Badung regency.
In January last year, a Turkish man, Turan Mehmet, 30, was robbed and suffered severe injuries after being shot by four Mexican men, at his villa in Kuta.
According to Bali Police, 226 foreign nationals were involved in criminal activities on the holiday island last year, a 16 percent increase from previous year’s figure of 194.
The majority of those convicted were United States citizens, followed by Australians, Russians and British nationals.