Nessen to stand trial next week
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
An American reporter arrested after hiding out with GAM rebels in war-torn Aceh, has been charged with violating immigration regulations and is scheduled to stand trial next week.
Forty-six-year-old William Nessen who was working as a freelance reporter for several print media, was arrested soon after he turned himself in to the military in North Aceh regency on June 24.
The Banda Aceh District Court said on Friday that it received Nessen's dossier from the government prosecutor's office two days ago and would start trying the case on Wednesday.
"A judge has been appointed to try the case and he is still studying the case and checking on whether the case has met administrative requirements," a clerk of the district court M. Yusuf Hasan told The Jakarta Post.
Yusuf declined to identify the judge but said attorney Efdal Efendy will be prosecuting Nessen and noted lawyer Amir Syamsuddin will represent the suspect in the trial.
According to the case file, Nessen is charged with violating Articles 50 and 51 of Law No. 9/1992 on immigration carrying a maximum five-year prison sentence and a Rp 5 million (US$609) fine.
Nessen spent weeks in jungles with rebels in North Aceh before he turned himself in to security authorities on June 24. He has been in police custody since then. Nessen was writing for foreign media on the Aceh war from the perspective of the rebels.
He entered Aceh before the government launched the military offensive on May 19 to crush the armed rebellion in the province.
Police said that Nessen, who is married to an Acehnese woman, had been unable to produce a passport, visa or a press card from the foreign ministry.
He has reportedly visited Aceh several times.
The military had earlier suspected Nessen of spying for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting since 1976 for independence for the resource-rich territory.
Following Nessen's arrest, the martial law administration announced tough restrictions on foreigners in Aceh, requiring both aid workers and reporters to apply for permission before entering the province. His mother was not allowed by the immigration office in Medan, North Sumatra, to enter Aceh two weeks ago to visit the suspect.
Yusuf also said the district court had received nine judges from North Sumatra to try hundreds of suspected rebels who are facing subversion charges.
"The judges are stationed at the court for only three months and their main mission is to try suspected members of the Free Aceh Movement," he said.