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gurah Rai International Airport immigration office deported two Australians on Friday afternoon for visa violations. Both were accused of carrying out journalistic work in Bali without a proper visa.

Daniel William Sutton, a Channel 10 reporter, and Nathan Mark Richter, a freelance photographer, were approached by immigration officers on Wednesday when they were covering a story about Schapelle Leigh Corby, a convicted Australian drug smuggler whose parole has drawn domestic controversy and international media attention.

They could not produce the proper documentation required for working in Indonesia.

Law and Human Rights Ministry Bali office head Gusti Kompiang Adnyana said the Australians had violated Article 122 of the Immigration Law on carrying out activities not in accordance with the granted visa. Both were sent back to Australia on a Virgin Airlines flight departing at 1:30 p.m.

'€œThey were reporting in Indonesia without a journalist visit visa. They should not use a visa on arrival. A visa on arrival should be used only for tourism purposes,'€ Adnyana said in Denpasar on Friday.

Sutton was picked up by an immigration officer while doing a live report on Wednesday afternoon at the entrance of Lotring alley, near the family compound of Corby'€™s sister Mercedes and her husband Wayan Widyartha. Corby is living in the compound after staying for nearly three weeks in a luxury villa.

Immigration officers approached Sutton after he finished the report and asked him for his travel documents. When he failed to provide the proper documentation, the officers requested he go with them to the immigration office.

Minutes later, Richter, who was taking a picture of Sutton while he was being questioned, was also picked up by an officer. Sutton had reportedly just arrived in Bali and had headed straight to Lotring alley to report. Richter
had reportedly been in Bali since March 5.

Both acquired tourist visas on their arrival. They were not detained during the investigation process.

'€œForeign journalists must have journalist visit visas. They should get permission from the Foreign Ministry as well as from the Communications and Information Ministry,'€

The two Australians will be prohibited from entering Indonesia for six months. The episode marks the first time the local immigration authority has taken strong measures against foreign journalists covering Corby. Hordes of foreign journalists had descended on Kerobokan Penitentiary a week before her release in early February.

When asked why immigration officers did not start checking foreign journalists'€™ travel documents prior to Corby'€™s release, Adnyana said '€œthey were looking for the best time [to do that].'€

Separately, the head of the correctional division at the ministry'€™s Bali office, Sunar Agus, declared Corby had not breached the conditions of her parole. He made the statement following growing calls that the government review the parole after Mercedes made what was considered locally to be a disrespectful comment on Australian television.

Corby, who was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar in October 2004 for smuggling 4.2 kilograms of marijuana into Indonesia and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, was released on Feb. 10 on parole.

However, the law and human rights minister decided to review her parole following an interview given by her sister '€” Mercedes '€” on the Sunday Night program of Channel 7 Australia on March 2. Mercedes conveyed her apology to the Indonesian people through several media outlets on Thursday.