Reasons sought for priest's travel ban

Reasons sought for priest's travel ban

JAKARTA (JP): The lawyer of a Jesuit Catholic Priest, recently
banned from traveling abroad, would seek an explanation on the
restriction in a meeting with Armed Forces chief Gen. Feisal
Tanjung Monday.

Lawyer Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan said yesterday that Feisal would
meet with his client Father Ignatius Sandyawan Sumardi at the
Armed Forces headquarters.

Luhut said his client wanted to discuss the travel ban in an
informal manner.

Formal channels would be pursued if adequate reasons could not
be found at the meeting, he said.

Sandyawan was barred from traveling to Australia Thursday by
immigration officials at the Soekarno-Hatta international
airport. Immigration officials said his name had been placed in
the computer under orders from Feisal.

Father Ignatius Sandyawan Sumardi, better known as Romo
(Father) Sandy, was due to have surgery on his right eye in Perth
yesterday.

Luhut said that medical treatment available in Australia was
ideal for his client's condition.

He said Sandyawan's right eye was injured during a motorcycle
accident a few years ago. Severe redness in his right eye
indicated Sandyawan's condition had worsened.

Sandyawan was unavailable for comment about the travel ban
imposed on him.

Luhut said he could not say if the travel ban on Father
Sandyawan was linked to the failed government case against his
client.

Sandyawan was acquitted of charges of harboring activists from
the unrecognized Democratic People's Party (PRD).

Sandyawan leads a non-governmental organization Jakarta Social
Institute which actively helps street children, laborers and poor
people caught in land disputes. (01)