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residing judge Wahyu Prasetyo on Monday refused the witnesses presented by the prosecution in the trial of British journalists Neil Bonner and Becky Posser for alleged immigration violations in Batam due to objections by the defendants'€™ lawyer.

At the third trial on Monday the prosecution initially planned to present an expert witness from the directorate general of immigration in Jakarta. The witness failed to show up and Batam immigration office head Agus Widjaya was instead presented as a replacement.

The defendants'€™ lawyer Aristo MA Pangaribuan objected to Agus being used as an expert witness, arguing that as he had already given testimony in the case dossier, his independence as a witness was compromised.

'€œWe accept the lawyer'€™s objection but will continue to hear Agus Widjaya'€™s testimony on the condition that it will not discuss the case, but only immigration in general,'€ Wahyu told the trial.

The second witness to be presented the same day was Karel, an actor in the documentary on piracy that the defendants made in the Malacca Strait, which led to their indictment. Karel also could not attend, as he was on a cruise. However, his written testimony was read out before the trial.

'€œWe also object the reading out of the testimony because essentially the witness is needed in this trial. We ask the judge to give the prosecutor another chance to present the witness in person,'€ Pangaribuan said.