President orders lifting of ban against Jones
President orders lifting of ban against Jones
Muninggar Sri Saraswati
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Less than a week after the country refused entry to American
researcher Sidney Jones, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
ordered the lifting of the ban on Tuesday, blaming the incident
on the government of his predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said that Susilo had
only learned about the expulsion from media reports, and
immediately sought an explanation from Coordinating Minister for
Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto and
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin.
"The ban was issued based on a decision made by the previous
government. The President asked (the ministers) whether the ban
was relevant to the current situation. It turned out that the
reasons were irrelevant," Andi told reporters.
Andi said Jones, the director of the Brussels-based
International Crisis Group (ICG), would be able to reenter the
country soon after the immigration office revoked the ban, which
was imposed last Wednesday.
Jones was denied entry to the country upon arrival at
Soekarno-Hatta Airport after a short visit to Taiwan on Thursday
of last week.
Responding to a request from the intelligence authorities, the
government of President Megawati refused to extend Jones' stay
permit and work visa in May 2004.
The intelligence authorities claimed her work was harmful
to Indonesia and that many of the ICG reports on the country's
poor human rights record and communal conflicts were untrue.
The government of Susilo did not extend the ban, which expired
last May. It even granted her a stay permit and work visa in July.
Hamid earlier said that Jones had been barred from entering
Indonesia after the relevant authorities had decided she was a
threat to domestic security.
Funded by foreign governments and private foundations, the ICG
usually reports on conflict issues, such as the problems in Aceh,
Papua and Ambon. But Jones is mostly known for her in-depth
reports on the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah terror group.
Jones said that an Indonesian official had called her to
inform her she could return.
"Isn't it great? ... I'm absolutely delighted. I'm trying to
get rid of all these phone calls so I can book an airline ticket
back.
"They asked me to wait a couple of days to make sure that all
the messages get through to immigration ... This is the shortest
expulsion on record," she told Agence France Presse news agency
from Singapore.
She said she planned to return to Jakarta later this week.
Analysts had roundly condemned the government's decision to
refuse entry to Jones, saying that it was a major setback for
human rights and democracy.