Australian model, Tori Ann Lyla Hunter, planned an exciting trip to Bali. The excitement quickly fizzled and turned to a nightmare when she claims the authorities extorted $40,000 from her. Hunter, who claims to be an ‘internationally published model,’ reported that she was held by Indonesian authorities last week after arriving at her holiday destination. She blames the situation was due to her mental health medication. Hunter had prescriptions from her doctor, as well as a doctor’s note which she presented to the authorities. Even so, she reported that she was strip-searched and detained. She later posted on her Facebook page that in Bali her medications are Class A drugs. This, she declared, was according to a list she was given which turned out to be fictional. The model claims she arrived in Bali. When arriving she declared her personal medications. She also offered a doctor’s note. The note stated her disorders along with what the medications were for and how much she took each day.
Hunter says she was interrogated for 14 hours. She said, despite the list of medications, she was informed later, by the Australian embassy, that no such list existed. She explained that she was interrogated for 14 hours. She said she was detained for three more days. According to the laws in the country Hunter could have faced up to five years in the Balinese jail system. However, she was later released after she was extorted for $39,600 AUS. Hunter believes the authorities targeted her after they found information about her online. She believes they then determined she was a wealthy lady since she was a model. She has started a GoFundMe page as a way to try to recuperate the money. In addition, she said she hopes to make others, with mental illness, aware of what they can face while traveling to foreign countries and possessing prescription drugs. She also wants to make people aware that they can become targets when they are influencers of social media. The 25-year-old model said she didn’t make it through the Bali customs after having her own prescription medication. She wrote this alongside a video she filmed of her during her time at the airport. Using her mobile phone she filmed the video. She then uploaded it to Instagram. The video shows her in a car being driven by an officer. It also shows her in an apparent jail cell along with the conditions of her cell.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade reported they offered assistance to a woman detained in Indonesia. The help to the Australian woman was done, they said, per the regulations with the Consular Services Charter. The department, also known as DFAT, said they could not provide additional information because of privacy obligations. Hengky Widjaja, a spokesperson for the Bali Police said that Ms. Hunter was later released. This was because the prescriptions she had in her possession were in accordance with the laws. The model later wrote to her fans that she wouldn’t want anyone to face what she faced during her time in Bali.
