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.