Foreign women jailed for visa offenses

Foreign women jailed for visa offenses

Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

An Indonesian court in troubled Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province
sentenced on Monday two foreign women, Lesley McCulloch, 42, and
Joy Lee Sadler, 57, to five and four months in jail respectively
for visa violations.

British academic McCulloch and American nurse Sadler were
ordered to pay Rp 5,000 (56 U.S. cents) each in court costs.

"The defendants have been found guilty of violating their
visas," Presiding Judge Arsil Marwan said here on Monday.

Arsil added that the time they had spent in detention since
their arrests on Sept. 11, 2002, would be deducted from their
sentences.

The rulings mean that McCulloch will spend 37 more days in
jail while Sadler will face another 12 days.

Judge Arsil said both McCulloch and Sadler had intentionally
violated their tourist visas.

McCulloch and her traveling companion Sadler were arrested in
South Aceh's Keude Rundeng Kluet village on Sept. 11. They were
in possession of a laptop computer, photographs of suspected
separatist members, transcripts of interviews with refugees, and
a map showing Indonesian military (TNI) checkpoints throughout
Aceh.

They should have visited resort areas, not Manggamat village
to meet members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), photograph a
devastated village, and treat refugees, Arsil said.

"Even if they were ordered by two gunmen to go to Manggamat
village, they should have refused to do so," he added.

Article 50 of Immigration Law No. 9/1992 stipulates that
foreigners who intend to misuse their visas or undertake
activities not in line with their visas face a maximum penalty of
five years in jail or a fine of Rp 25 million.

Both McCulloch and Sadler were uncooperative during the trial,
which served as a compounding factor against them, Arsil said.

The judge concluded that their meeting with GAM members could
adversely affect the integrity of the Unitary Republic of
Indonesia.

Upon hearing the verdict, Sadler burst into tears, saying that
her visit was intended to help the Aceh people.

Sadler, who appeared pale and very weak, wept as the verdict
was announced, but said she would continue with the hunger strike
she began on Nov. 27.

Although she claimed the trial was unfair, she had no plans to
appeal. "If I appeal, it will only take longer," Sadler added.

Meanwhile, McCulloch said that she was one of the victims of
the Aceh conflict.

According to McCulloch, the sentence was based on what she did
and wrote in the past. She noted that foreigners with visa
problems were normally just deported.

McCulloch, a teacher and researcher at Australia's Tasmania
University, said the military had pressured the court to convict
her because it was angry over articles she had written for
publications in Asia regarding TNI business dealings in Aceh.

"I have been through a long process, from torture by the TNI
during the arrest, sexual abuse by the police, to an unfair
trial," she said in the courtroom.

McCulloch condemned the verdict handed down to Sadler, saying
that Sadler should have been released. "She should be freed. What
if she dies?" she said, adding that she would launch a hunger-
strike in solidarity with Sadler.

Jhonson Panjaitan, a lawyer for McCulloch and Sadler,
regretted the verdicts, saying that the judge had ignored the
facts on the ground in Aceh.

"How can they refuse an order from a gunman? This is
irrational," he said.

Jhonson also criticized the statement by Judge Arsil that
anyone meeting with GAM was endangering national unity. "What if
people meet GAM during peace talks?" he asked pointedly.