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Britons face deportation for making documentary
Illegal activity: British journalists Neil Bonner (Right) and Becky Prosser undergo interrogation at Batamâs Barelang Police headquarters on Friday night
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Illegal activity: British journalists Neil Bonner (Right) and Becky Prosser undergo interrogation at Batamâs Barelang Police headquarters on Friday night. They were arrested for making a documentary on piracy in the Malacca Strait without permission and will be charged for violating immigration rules.(Antara/M.N. Kanwa) (Right) and Becky Prosser undergo interrogation at Batamâs Barelang Police headquarters on Friday night. They were arrested for making a documentary on piracy in the Malacca Strait without permission and will be charged for violating immigration rules.(Antara/M.N. Kanwa)
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span class="inline inline-center">Illegal activity: British journalists Neil Bonner (Right) and Becky Prosser undergo interrogation at Batam's Barelang Police headquarters on Friday night. They were arrested for making a documentary on piracy in the Malacca Strait without permission and will be charged for violating immigration rules.(Antara/M.N. Kanwa)
Two Britons are facing deportation after being arrested by a Naval patrol as they were making a documentary about piracy on the Malacca Strait without the proper documents.
Nine Indonesians were also arrested along with the two Britons as the group was filming footage around Belakang Padang Island, Batam, around midnight on Thursday.
The two Britons were identified as Neil Bonner, 31, and Becky Prosser, 30, while the Indonesians were Zamira Lubis, 52, Andi Kusnanto, 36, Ahmadi, 36, Marsel Karel, 50, Indratno, 43, Apson Kakahue, 49, Samsul, 49, Diki, 28, and Lamusa, 36.
'The two foreigners handed over to us will be further handed over to the immigration office for legal processing,' Batam, Rempang and Galang (Barelang) City Police chief Comr. Asep Safrudin told The Jakarta Post, Sunday.
He said the 11 people were on board two motorized boats when they were arrested. They were waiting for a ship that, according to the scenario, was to be attacked by pirates and recorded by the two Britons.
Asep said that the nine Indonesians involved in making the documentary without a license would be charged with Law No. 33/2009 on film, which carries a penalty of two years imprisonment or a fine of Rp 10 billion (US$769,230).
'We will process the case,' Asep said.
He also said the toughest sanction under the authority of the immigration office that could be given to the two Britons was deportation.
Meanwhile, the nine Indonesians, one of whom is a Jakarta, have been released on the condition that they sign a letter expressing readiness to be summoned at any time and present guarantee from their closest family members.
Prosser, whom The Jakarta Post reporter met at the Barelang City Police headquarters, said that she was waiting for a lawyer to deal with the case.
'I cannot give you a statement. I am waiting for my lawyer,' she said.
Her colleague Bonner said the same, showing an unfriendly expression toward reporters who approached him and asked him questions.
'We received them on Saturday,' said Batam immigration office spokesperson Hamdan. 'We will further process the case. By Monday we will decide on what action to take against them.'
Lamusa, one of the nine Indonesians involved in the documentary, said that he received US$250 for three hours of shooting for several scenes.
Ahmadi, a local journalist who worked as a fixer in the activity, said there were three scenes that they had to make during the shooting around Belakang Padang Island.
'Two scenes had been completed, leaving one to be reconstructed, before the Naval patrol ships nabbed us,' Ahmadi said.
A source said that the two Britons were crew members of a production house that was to later sell the documentary to National Geographic.
All the players in the documentary were former pirates who resided on Belakang Padang Island, which is why they were hired to help reconstruct a piracy incident and also why they were being monitored by the Indonesian Navy.
