American journalist declared a suspect

American journalist declared a suspect

Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh

Aceh Police declared on Wednesday that American journalist
William Nessen had violated visa regulations, an offense which
may lead to his deportation.

The status of Nessen was announced following 24 hours of
questioning, during which the freelancer was placed under police
detention.

Aceh Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Sayed Hoesayni said an
arrest warrant had been issued for Nessen who is being charged
with violating Article 50 and Article 51 of Law No. 9/1992 on
immigration which carries a maximum sentence of five years
imprisonment or a Rp 25 million fine.

"We have to arrest him (Nessen) because of the violation and
his stubbornness," Sayed told reporters, referring to the
repeated calls from martial law administrator in Aceh for the
journalist to leave the rebel base.

Under martial law, the military has the authority to detain
Nessen for 20 days.

According to Sayed, Nessen also failed to inform the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs as well as other local officials of his
presence in Aceh, and even the U.S. Embassy had no knowledge
about when Nessen had entered the country.

Nessen came to Indonesia as a journalist with the San
Francisco Chronicle, but Sayed said that the New Yorker failed to
prove it and to produce his passport. Nessen said he lost his
passport when he was trapped in crossfire between government
soldiers and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists earlier this
month.

Nessen had been with GAM rebels since last month. He defied a
military order to leave the separatists by June 14, saying he
needed assurance that he would not be jailed, interrogated or
shot by the military troops.

The military had earlier accused Nessen of espionage.

He eventually gave himself up to the military in Nisam, North
Aceh, on Tuesday.

During the questioning, U.S. Embassy deputy consul Samantha
Carl, was seen accompanying Nessen.

"The questioning of Nessen is expected to reveal why he
traveled with the rebels," Sayed said, adding that it would take
the police two more days to complete.

The 46-year-old journalist, who is married to an Acehnese
woman, was residing in East Jakarta's Kebun Nanas Selatan area
before leaving for Aceh.

In Jakarta, Iman Santoso, the director general of immigration,
said the government remained undecided whether or not to deport
Nessen.

"The decision to deport Nessen depends on developments in
Aceh. There must be reasons why they are considering his
deportation," Iman told reporters after a meeting on Aceh issues
at the office of the coordinating minister for security and
political affairs.