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Rules for foreign journalists to be drafted: Moeldoko
The technicalities and rules applying to foreign journalists entering Papua were slated to be drafted soon, the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen
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he technicalities and rules applying to foreign journalists entering Papua were slated to be drafted soon, the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Moeldoko said on Monday.
President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo announced on Sunday that he was opening access for foreign journalists to enter Papua and West Papua, after a decade of strict regulations on entering those provinces.
'The President's instruction is clear, that foreign journalists are able to enter Papua freely now. But we have to think about the rules and the technicalities,' said Moeldoko in Makassar, South Sulawesi, as quoted by tempo.co.
He said that the rules would be drafted with Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno.
Moeldoko went on to say that Papua was in a conducive situation, as there were no military operations ongoing at the moment. There was only a territorial operation to secure the area along the border, he added.
Previously, foreign journalists intending to report on Papua, an area with a history of rampant human rights abuses, needed to fill out permission request forms that had to be approved by numerous government institutions.
The Jayapura District Court convicted French journalists Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat of abusing entry visas while producing a documentary on the Papuan separatist movement in 2014. They were sentenced to two months and 15 days' imprisonment.
Indonesian journalists working in Papua have also reported intimidation from local authorities. (fsu/nvn)
