Influencer Rachel Vennya was named as suspect and has been found guilty for escaping the mandatory quarantine upon her arrival in Indonesia from New York in September. 

This case went viral on 11 October after a netizen who is believed to be a staff member at the Wisma Atlet Pademangan quarantine centre revealed the information. 

According to the information, she only underwent three days of quarantine. She was supposed to undergo an eight days of quarantine in accordance with the COVID-19 Task Force Circular Letter No.18/2021 on International Travel Health Protocols. 

A week later, on 21 October, Rachel fulfilled the request to give clarification prior to further investigation at the Jakarta Police. 

On 1 November, after the investigation, Rachel’s witness status was maintained. However, on 3 November, she was named as a suspect along with her partner, her manager and two military officers who helped her escape. The military officers were stationed at Soekarno-Hatta international airport, hence able to assist the escape. They were returned to their unit on 14 October. 

The first trial began on 10 December at the Tangerang District Court. In the trial, Rachel admitted that she also paid Rp40 million to Ovelina Pratiwi, a staff member at the House of Representatives, to assist her in the escape. Ovelina was then removed from office. 

Rachel Vennya and other suspects were proven to have violated Article 93 in conjunction with Article 9 Paragraph 1 of Law Number 6 of 2018 concerning Health Quarantine. However, she received an eight-month suspended sentence. If she commits another offence during this period, she will be imprisoned for four months. 

She was not sentenced to jail as the judge said that she has admitted her wrongdoings and has been cooperative throughout the legal proceedings. The verdict, however, received a lot of backlash online as netizens view it as unfair.