American journalist faces jail but says not guilty<\/p>\n
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh<\/p>\n
Facing two months imprisonment for immigration offenses, an
\nAmerican freelance journalist asserted that he had not committed
\nany acts or activities that violated Indonesia's immigration law.<\/p>\n
Chief prosecutor Efdal Efendy requested the panel of judges to
\nsentence the defendant to two months imprisonment as he claimed
\nit had been convincingly and legally proven that the defendant
\nhad violated Article 51 of Law No. 9\/1992 on immigration.<\/p>\n
\"As a foreign citizen, Nessen failed to report his change of
\naddress in Indonesia to the local immigration office. He also did
\nnot have permission from the Indonesian government to work in the
\ncountry,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said Nessen was guilty of failing to produce his passport
\nand visa when questioned by the authorities. He also did not
\nreport to the police when he entered Aceh, did not have a work
\npermit from the manpower ministry, and did not have a press card
\nfrom the Indonesian foreign ministry or the information ministry,
\nEffendi said.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor also read the testimony of four government
\nofficials from the foreign ministry, manpower and transmigration
\nministry, justice and human rights ministry and the office of the
\ninformation minister who could not attend the court session.<\/p>\n
In his written testimony, Heri Sudarmanto, chief of the
\nservice section for foreign workers at the manpower and
\ntransmigration ministry, confirmed that the defendant had not
\nrequested a work permit from the Indonesian government.<\/p>\n
Nessen was arrested on June 24 when he turned himself in to
\nthe Army after traveling with rebels of the Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM) for three weeks.<\/p>\n
The military said they suspected him of spying for the rebels,
\nwho have been fighting for an independent homeland in the oil-
\nand gas-rich province.<\/p>\n
Nessen and his lawyer Amir Syamsudin made their own defense in
\nthe court session directly after the prosecutors read out their
\ncharges, asked the court to dismiss the charges as baseless.<\/p>\n
\"Nessen has not been proven guilty of committing the offenses
\nas charged by the prosecutors and I request the honorable judges
\nto acquit him of the charges,\" said Amir.<\/p>\n
Amir argued that his client was not unwilling to produce his
\nidentity card and other documents to the security authorities but
\nhis circumstances made it impossible to do so.<\/p>\n
He also said his client did not misuse his visa \"because his
\nactivities were journalistic in nature\".<\/p>\n
Nessen said he still had a valid visa which he got from the
\nimmigration office in 1998, to temporarily stay in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Since first working as a journalist in Aceh in 2001, Nessen
\nsaid he had written about the province six times after
\ninterviewing GAM, the police, the armed forces and ordinary
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Asked by one of the three judges whether he had ever
\nbesmirched the Indonesian government, Nessen, said: \"Oh no, no. I
\nwrite what actually happens, and what I see and regard as the
\ntruth... I cover both sides.\"<\/p>\n
Nessen said he entered Aceh before martial law was imposed on
\nMay 19 and did not know he had to report to the security
\nauthorities.<\/p>\n
He said immigration officials had never told him he needed a
\npress card from the foreign ministry.<\/p>\n
The freelance reporter said he had planned to spend two weeks
\nwith the military after his initial two weeks covering GAM.<\/p>\n
\"But when I wanted to leave there was a firefight so I had to
\nflee with the GAM members because I was afraid of becoming a
\nvictim, and a target,\" Nessen testified in Indonesian.<\/p>\n
The trial was adjourned until Aug. 2, to hear the court's
\nverdict.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, residents of Alue Krup village in Peusangan
\ndistrict, Bireuen regency, found six dead bodies in paddy fields
\nearly on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The Lhokseumawe-based military operation command claimed it
\nhad not received any information about such an incident, while
\nlocal military officers declined to reveal whether the victims
\nwere related to the ongoing operation.<\/p>\n
The six people sustained gunshot wounds and carried no
\nidentification, but chief of Leubu village, Makmur district,
\nMuzakir Yusuf, later identified them as residents of the
\nvillage's Lapihan Masjid hamlet who had gone missing two months
\nago.<\/p>\n
\"They could be GAM members because they left home right after
\nthe imposition of martial law,\" he told reporters after
\nidentifying the bodies at the Dr. Fauziah hospital in Bireuen
\ntown.<\/p>\n
Separately on Tuesday evening, five armed men entered the
\nhouse of Mustafa, 37, a resident of Reusip Ara village, Peusangan
\ndistrict, and shot three members of the family. Mustafa died
\ninstantly from a gunshot wound to his neck, while his wife
\nZubaedah is now in critical condition at Dr. Fauziah hospital.
\nShe sustained several gunshot wounds, including to her head and
\nchest, while her eyes and lips were severely swollen due to being
\nbeaten.<\/p>\n
Their youngest child, three-and-half-year-old Muhammad Fajri,
\nsustained two bullet wounds to his chest. As of Wednesday, he had
\nundergone surgery and was in the recovery room.<\/p>\n
According to a relative, Susanti, Zubaedah cooks for troops
\npatrolling in the area.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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