Portuguese ousted for sham passport

Portuguese ousted for sham passport

JAKARTA (JP): A Portuguese TV journalist was expelled from
Indonesia on Sunday after entering the country with someone
else's passport, Director General of Immigration Roni Sikap
Sinuraya said yesterday.

"Joao Gabriel was immediately expelled after his arrival at
the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Sunday," Sinuraya
told reporters.

Sinuraya said the immigration officer did not question Gabriel
about the purpose of his visit to Indonesia.

Gabriel admitted that he used the passport of Spanish national
Tavare Enrique Alverio, claiming, Sinuraya said, that he was his
brother.

He added that immigration officers pulled aside the alien upon
noticing that his face did not match the picture in the passport.

Sinuraya will quit his post tomorrow to assume an
ambassadorial post. Sinuraya, who will be replaced by President
Soeharto's military secretary, Maj. Gen. Pranowo, said the
expulsion was in line with international and local immigration
rules.

According to Sinuraya, Indonesia expels two to three
foreigners every day for illegally entering the country.

United Press International, quoting several radio broadcasts
in Portugal and Macao, reported on Monday that Gabriel was
arrested upon his arrival at the airport.

The arrest was made known to foreign media after Gabriel, who
holds a Venezuelan passport, called his brother in Lisbon,
Portugal, on Sunday. Gabriel, however, did not mention the
location from where he made the telephone call.

Agence France Presse reported yesterday that Gabriel, working
with independent TV1-Eglise, had planned to work in Jakarta
before traveling to Bali and East Timor.

Gabriel interviewed the East Timorese separatist leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, who is serving twenty years at the
Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta, during his previous trip.
He was expelled from the country for not having a visa, the AFP
said.(imn)