Tuesday, March 31, 2009

[pima.nius] PMW: PAPUA: Indonesians deport two Dutchreporters over 'visa misuse'

9:06 PM |


Title – 6059 PAPUA: Indonesians deport two Dutch reporters over 'visa misuse'

Date – 1 April 2009

Byline – Christian Motte

Origin – Pacific Media Watch

Source – The Jakarta Globe, 30/03/09

Copyright – CP

Status – Unabridged

----------------------------

* Pacific Media Watch Online - check the website for archive and links:

 

* Post a comment on this story at PMW Right of Reply:

 

DUTCH REPORTERS KICKED OUT OF PAPUA

 

By Christian Motte

 

JAYAPURA (JG Online/Pacific Media Watch):

The Immigration Department is deporting two Dutch

journalists for allegedly misusing their tourist visas by

covering a pro-independence rally in Papua Province last week.

 

Raden Hendiartono, head of immigration in Jayapura, the

provincial capital, said on Sunday that Gabriela Babette, 57,

and Peter Mariaw Smith, 57, both with Dutch NRC TV, had been

sent to Jakarta.

 

"We are deporting both foreign citizens," he said. "We have

given them three days to stay in Jakarta to take care of their

return tickets to the Netherlands."

 

A third journalist, Ronald Wigman, 54, also with NRC TV, was

found to have a permit to stay in Bali, Hendiartono said.

 

"Ronald will be questioned in Denpasar [Bali] because his

documents and data are there," he said. "He went to Jakarta as

he has relatives there. But it is possible he will be deported,

too."

 

The three journalists and Elske Schouten, who is the NRC

Handelsblad newspaper's Jakarta correspondent, were originally

detained by immigration officials and questioned for 12 hours

about their activities in the sensitive province, which is off

limits to foreign journalists.

 

Schouten was later released and returned to Jakarta, but the

three others were barred from leaving the resource-rich

province, home to a low-level insurgency by members of the Free

Papua Movement, or OPM.

 

The journalists were reporting on the return of Nicolaas Jouwe,

a founder of the OPM. Jouwe came back to the country after more

than 40 years exile in the Netherlands and stoked controversy by

referring to Indonesia as Papua's next-door neighbor.

 

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda had earlier said that the

journalists would be deported for abusing their tourist visas.

 

On Wednesday, Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu said he regretted

the detentions.

 

"Why should they be arrested, they have a three-day visa, during

which they had the right to stay in Papua. This is strange," he

said, adding that the episode could discourage tourism and harm

relations with the Netherlands.

 

What are now the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua,

once occupied by the Dutch, were incorporated into Indonesia

after a 1969 UN-backed vote by tribal elders, which was widely

seen as a sham.

 

The government heavily restricts access to the region by foreign

journalists and Indonesian security forces there are accused of

widespread human rights abuses.

 

* Terjemahan (atas jasa "Kataku"):

 

* Comment on this item www.pacificmediacentre.blogspot.com

 

+++niuswire

 

PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH ONLINE

 

PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is a media and educational resource compiled by the AUT Pacific Media Centre for the Pacific region.

 

(c)1996-2009 Creative Commons

 

Items are provided solely for review purposes as a non-profit educational service. Copyright remains the property of the original producers as indicated in the header. Recipients should seek permission

from the copyright owner for any publishing. Copyright owners not wishing their materials to be posted by PMW please contact us. The views expressed in material listed by PMW are not necessarily the views

of PMW or the Pacific Media Centre.

 

For further information or joining the Pacific Media Watch listserve, go to:

 

Email:

Fax: (+649) 921 9987

SnailMail: Pacific Media Centre, School of Communication Studies, AUT

University, Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142, Aotearoa/New Zealand

 

Website: www.pmw.c2o.org

_______________________________________________

Pacific_media_watch mailing list


_______________________________________________
Pacific_media_watch mailing list
Pacific_media_watch@lists.apc.org.au




--
----------------------------------------
pacific islands media association
pima.nius@gmail.com
aotearoa, new zealand
----------------------------------------

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
- - - - - - - - -

comment here:
http://groups.google.com/group/pima-nius/topics?hl=en

send an email comment here:
pima-nius@googlegroups.com

unsubscribe:
pima-nius+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

more options
http://groups.google.com/group/pima-nius?hl=en?hl=en

- - - - - - - - -
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

0 comments: