Detention of American, Briton questioned

Detention of American, Briton questioned

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The police have illegally detained American Joy Lee Sadler and
Briton Lesley McCulloch as they were not charged six days after
they were arrested, a lawyer said on Wednesday.

Aceh Legal Aid (LBH) director Rufriadi told The Jakarta Post
on Wednesday that the police should have released the foreigners
as no charges had been laid against the two women.

Sadler, a retired Iowa health volunteer, and McCulloch, a
British academic, were arrested in South Aceh on Sept. 11, but
their legal status was not known until Tuesday, when the police
charged the two with violating their "restricted tourist visas"
by allegedly visiting the base of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Under Indonesian law, people in police custody must be charged
within 24 hours.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Wednesday
that the two women were suspected of conducting a series of
activities related to GAM.

"They have violated immigration regulations and allegedly are
connected with GAM activities," Da'i said after a Cabinet meeting
at the State Palace.

He said that the police had found many documents regarding GAM
in the women's possession.

"They were in a conflict area and violating immigration
regulations, that's why we are investigating the case further,"
the police chief said.

Police spokesman Saleh Saaf said that the South Aceh Police
were confining the two foreigners to their base for their own
safety.

"We won't put them in a cell, but we also won't let them go
out of the building. It's for their own protection. The
circumstances in South Aceh are different. We should protect
them, especially from the Free Aceh Movement because they visited
them and are now being questioned by police," he told the Post.

Police questioned the women on Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 5
p.m., with a one-and-a-half-hour break in between.

Rafriudin, who accompanied the foreigners during their
questioning, said that the questions focused on visa violations.

"The questioning will continue tomorrow (Thursday)," he said.

McCulloch could face up to five years in jail or a fine of Rp
25 million (US$2,800) if convicted of violating immigration
rules.

Meanwhile, the British Embassy in Jakarta expressed concern
over complaints that the police had mistreated McCulloch.

An embassy spokesman said they were particularly worried over
McCulloch's allegations of abuse while in custody and also the
way the 40-year-old Scottish academic and American nurse Sadler
had been denied outside contact for so long.

"We are very concerned about the complaints made by Lesley
McCulloch that she was allegedly mistreated," said the
spokeswoman, adding that the embassy was also "very unhappy" it
took so long to gain access to McCulloch, Reuters reported.

Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday that
McCulloch had slipped a distress note to its correspondent, who
was traveling on the same plane as the three women.

"Held seven nights, denied right of contact with embassy,
abused by army, knife held at my throat ... sleep deprivation,
denied medical assistance, intimidation, sexual harassment," the
paper quoted the note as saying.