American journalist faces jail but says not guilty

American journalist faces jail but says not guilty

Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh

Facing two months imprisonment for immigration offenses, an
American freelance journalist asserted that he had not committed
any acts or activities that violated Indonesia's immigration law.

Chief prosecutor Efdal Efendy requested the panel of judges to
sentence the defendant to two months imprisonment as he claimed
it had been convincingly and legally proven that the defendant
had violated Article 51 of Law No. 9/1992 on immigration.

"As a foreign citizen, Nessen failed to report his change of
address in Indonesia to the local immigration office. He also did
not have permission from the Indonesian government to work in the
country," he said.

He said Nessen was guilty of failing to produce his passport
and visa when questioned by the authorities. He also did not
report to the police when he entered Aceh, did not have a work
permit from the manpower ministry, and did not have a press card
from the Indonesian foreign ministry or the information ministry,
Effendi said.

The prosecutor also read the testimony of four government
officials from the foreign ministry, manpower and transmigration
ministry, justice and human rights ministry and the office of the
information minister who could not attend the court session.

In his written testimony, Heri Sudarmanto, chief of the
service section for foreign workers at the manpower and
transmigration ministry, confirmed that the defendant had not
requested a work permit from the Indonesian government.

Nessen was arrested on June 24 when he turned himself in to
the Army after traveling with rebels of the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) for three weeks.

The military said they suspected him of spying for the rebels,
who have been fighting for an independent homeland in the oil-
and gas-rich province.

Nessen and his lawyer Amir Syamsudin made their own defense in
the court session directly after the prosecutors read out their
charges, asked the court to dismiss the charges as baseless.

"Nessen has not been proven guilty of committing the offenses
as charged by the prosecutors and I request the honorable judges
to acquit him of the charges," said Amir.

Amir argued that his client was not unwilling to produce his
identity card and other documents to the security authorities but
his circumstances made it impossible to do so.

He also said his client did not misuse his visa "because his
activities were journalistic in nature".

Nessen said he still had a valid visa which he got from the
immigration office in 1998, to temporarily stay in Indonesia.

Since first working as a journalist in Aceh in 2001, Nessen
said he had written about the province six times after
interviewing GAM, the police, the armed forces and ordinary
people.

Asked by one of the three judges whether he had ever
besmirched the Indonesian government, Nessen, said: "Oh no, no. I
write what actually happens, and what I see and regard as the
truth... I cover both sides."

Nessen said he entered Aceh before martial law was imposed on
May 19 and did not know he had to report to the security
authorities.

He said immigration officials had never told him he needed a
press card from the foreign ministry.

The freelance reporter said he had planned to spend two weeks
with the military after his initial two weeks covering GAM.

"But when I wanted to leave there was a firefight so I had to
flee with the GAM members because I was afraid of becoming a
victim, and a target," Nessen testified in Indonesian.

The trial was adjourned until Aug. 2, to hear the court's
verdict.

Meanwhile, residents of Alue Krup village in Peusangan
district, Bireuen regency, found six dead bodies in paddy fields
early on Wednesday.

The Lhokseumawe-based military operation command claimed it
had not received any information about such an incident, while
local military officers declined to reveal whether the victims
were related to the ongoing operation.

The six people sustained gunshot wounds and carried no
identification, but chief of Leubu village, Makmur district,
Muzakir Yusuf, later identified them as residents of the
village's Lapihan Masjid hamlet who had gone missing two months
ago.

"They could be GAM members because they left home right after
the imposition of martial law," he told reporters after
identifying the bodies at the Dr. Fauziah hospital in Bireuen
town.

Separately on Tuesday evening, five armed men entered the
house of Mustafa, 37, a resident of Reusip Ara village, Peusangan
district, and shot three members of the family. Mustafa died
instantly from a gunshot wound to his neck, while his wife
Zubaedah is now in critical condition at Dr. Fauziah hospital.
She sustained several gunshot wounds, including to her head and
chest, while her eyes and lips were severely swollen due to being
beaten.

Their youngest child, three-and-half-year-old Muhammad Fajri,
sustained two bullet wounds to his chest. As of Wednesday, he had
undergone surgery and was in the recovery room.

According to a relative, Susanti, Zubaedah cooks for troops
patrolling in the area.