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View all search resultsForeign journalists' case reflects RI paranoia
Human Rights Watch (HRW) deputy director for Asia, Phelim Kine, says the arrest and conviction of two French journalists, Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, reflects the Indonesian government's willingness to suppress journalists' rights to prevent foreign media from reporting on Papua
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H
uman Rights Watch (HRW) deputy director for Asia, Phelim Kine, says the arrest and conviction of two French journalists, Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, reflects the Indonesian government's willingness to suppress journalists' rights to prevent foreign media from reporting on Papua.
In a statement, Kine said the fact that Dandois and Bourrat, who were producing a documentary on the restive province for Franco-German Arte TV, could face subversion charges for allegedly filming members of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM), illustrated such restrictions.
'The rhetoric masked the government's anger that the two journalists had run afoul of its decades-old policy of preventing foreign media scrutiny of Papua. That policy makes it nearly impossible for journalists to report freely from the province,' said Kine.
The Jayapura District Court convicted Dandois and Bourrat of visa abuse and sentenced them to two months and 15 days in jail on Friday. The two journalists, who have been detained since Aug. 6, will be freed on Monday based on time already served.
Kine said that one of the obstructions to foreign media access was the requirement for foreign reporters to get special official permission to visit Papua. However, the government rarely approves these applications or else delays processing them, hampering efforts by journalists and independent groups to report breaking news.
