Nessen gets for immigration offense
Nessen gets for immigration offense
Nani Farida and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post,
Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe
American freelance journalist William Arthur Nessen was sentenced
on Saturday for an immigration violation here, but is expected to
enjoy his freedom the next day.
The Banda Aceh District Court handed down to Nessen, 46, a
retroactive 40-day jail term. Nessen has been in detention since
June 24, when he surrendered to the martial law administration in
Aceh after living with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels for
some time.
No court order was issued for Nessen's deportation and he is
permitted to stay in Indonesia until Oct. 31.
Prosecutors had demanded a two-month sentence jail for Nessen,
who writes for the Sydney Morning Herald and The San Francisco
Chronicle.
Nessen's defense lawyer Amir Syamsuddin said his client would
accept the verdict, so that he could seek medical treatment for
his acute kidney problem.
"He may return to the U.S. to seek treatment," Amir said.
The panel of judges read the verdict, which declared the
American journalist to be guilty of violating Article 51 of Law
No. 9/1992 on immigration for failing to produce his passport and
visa when he surrendered.
He was also found guilty of reporting without informing the
martial law administration in Aceh, which had imposed
restrictions on foreign journalists amid the government offensive
against GAM.
Nessen entered Aceh by land on May 10 from Medan, North
Sumatra, before the military operation was launched on May 19. He
defied the military order to leave the GAM base where he was
staying, and failed to appear even after the deadline.
Army chief of staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu suspected Nessen of
spying for GAM, which has been fighting since 1976 for an
independent Aceh.
In his defense, Nessen told the court he lost his passport and
other documents when he fled a firefight between rebels and
troops in North Aceh's Nisam district.
Prosecutors pointed out that Nessen did not report to police
when he entered Aceh, did not have permission to work as a
journalist from the manpower ministry and was not accredited by
the foreign ministry.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said
in a statement on Saturday that it welcomed the verdict in
Nessen's case, because it cleared the way for his release.
"We are relieved that Nessen will now be free to leave the
country," said Lin Neumann, CPJ's Asia representative as quoted
by AFP.
"We believe he was imprisoned because of his activities as a
journalist and we have maintained throughout this process that he
should be released."
In other developments, a rebel and a soldier were killed as 13
gunfights broke out across the province between Friday and
Saturday.
Spokesman for the military operation Lt. Col. Ahmad Yani
Basuki said Pvt. Tarsan was killed in a skirmish in Kuta Baro,
South Aceh, on Friday evening. Forty-one soldiers have been
killed since the onset of the military operation.
Yani said government troops shot dead one rebel in Pasir Kuala
Asahan, South Aceh, on Friday.
He also said 10 rebels had surrendered over the last two days.
Meanwhile, Aceh Police are stepping up security measures ahead
of the Aug. 17 Independence Day.
"The police have anticipated any potential security
disturbances, including intimidation against people not to hoist
the Red-and-White (Indonesian) flag and bomb threats," Aceh
Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Sayed Husainy said.
He said GAM members had circulated pamphlets asking residents
not to fly the national flag, demanded levies from locals and had
abducted several community figures in order to spread terror
among the Acehnese.