T

he South Jakarta Immigration Office arrested Fulbright researcher Frank Sedlar during the eviction
in Bukit Duri, Tebet, South Jakarta on Wednesday for an alleged visa violation.

Sedlar, a civil engineer from the University of Michigan, the US, reportedly aroused officials’ suspicion as he had come to the eviction site with advanced photography equipment, such as tripods and a high-tech camera, like a professional journalist.

“We need to question him as he carried out activities that are not in accordance with his visa,” said South Jakarta Immigration Office spokesman Heru Santoso. “He indeed holds a research visa but why must he take pictures of the eviction in Bukit Duri?”

Sedlar came to the site with an American friend, who only holds a tourist visa, he further said. The immigration office also arrested Sedlar’s friend.

“We had to make the arrest [...]. We have to be constantly alert right?” said Heru, adding that Sedlar had claimed that the pictures were for his personal use.

Meanwhile, the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF), a bi-national organization that manages the Fulbright program, confirmed the arrest.

However, it declined to further comment as by Wednesday late afternoon it had yet to meet with Sedlar or Immigration Office staff members to discuss the matter.

“This evening, we will question Sedlar on why he was at the site and what he wanted to do with the pictures,” AMINEF spokeswoman Miftahul Mardiyah told The Jakarta Post. “We plan to follow up the issue with the Immigration Office too as it called us this afternoon to confirm that Sedlar was our researcher.”

 Sedlar was reportedly released by the Immigration Office on Wednesday evening but he is required to report back on Thursday with assistance from AMINEF.

Meanwhile, his friend will reportedly be deported to the US on Thursday.

Sedlar, who also took part in establishing the flood-mapping portal petajakarta.org, was believed to be at the site due to his concerns about the city’s normalization program.

Previously, Sedlar conducted research on flooding in the capital and found that residents had little awareness about river conservation as they had limited access to river water — which he attributed to the administration’s sheet pile projects.

He claims that the administration and citizens have a tendency to treat water as their enemy as the piles tend to create an image that the river is the source of flooding, he said.

Meanwhile, without the sheet piles, the residents could observe the water, their source of daily life. Hence, aside from easily fulfilling their needs, they can also take part in mitigating floods.

“Water is a valuable asset. It is not a source of flooding but of livelihoods,” Sedlar told The Jakarta Post in February.