Jones back in town and back at work
Jones back in town and back at work
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
American terrorism expert Sidney Jones has resumed her work in
Indonesia after her entry ban was lifted by the government last
week.
Marking her first public appearance after the lifting of the
ban, she addressed a two-day international conference on security
challenges in the Asia-Pacific region in Jakarta, which began on
Tuesday.
Jones, director of the Jakarta office of the Brussels-based
International Crisis Group (ICG), arrived here last Friday.
"As a researcher, my client is free to conduct studies and to
share views, attend seminars or to visit conflict-prone areas in
Indonesia," Jones' lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said.
"I will file a protest if any restrictions are imposed on her
in carrying out her work, which includes visiting conflict zones
such as Aceh, Papua and Poso," he added.
Jones was denied entry to Indonesia on Nov. 23. Two days
later, she was ordered to fly back out of Indonesia upon her
arrival at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport.
A week later, however, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
overruled the ban on Jones after it was met with a storm of
criticism.
The reasons for the government's barring of Jones are still
unclear. Some officials said they were only given effect to the
previously imposed policy issued by the security authorities during
the administration of president Megawati Soekarnoputri, while
others said Jones had to change her "bad attitude".
Speculation was rife that the ban was imposed for her critical
reports on the activities of the intelligence and other security
authorities in the troubled areas, where they were accused of
abusing human rights.
The two-day conference, sponsored by the Council for Security
Cooperation in Asia Pacific, was closed to the press on Tuesday.
Susilo failed to open the meeting on Tuesday as scheduled as he
was still visiting Magelang, Central Java.
Jones, mostly known here for her in-depth reports on the al-
Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah terror group, served as a panelist
in a session on countering terrorism along with former Philippine
commander-in-chief Gen. Narciso Abaya and Indonesianist Greg
Fealy from the Australian National University.
Other speakers included East Timor's Senior Minister for
Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Jose Ramos-Horta, Australian
Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer, U.S. Ambassador to
Indonesia B. Lynn Pascoe and former Indonesian foreign minister
Ali Alatas.