Baudouin Koenig (left) and Carole Helena Lorthiois (right) were expelled from the Papuan provincial capital Jayapura on Wednesday morning and have been ordered to leave Indonesia, Jayapura district immigration head Robert Silitonga said. -- PHOTO: AFP
JAKARTA - TWO French journalists will be deported from Indonesia on Wednesday after they filmed a peaceful demonstration in Papua province, where the government is accused of rights abuses.
Baudouin Koenig and Carole Helena Lorthiois were expelled from the Papuan provincial capital Jayapura on Wednesday morning and have been ordered to leave Indonesia, Jayapura district immigration head Robert Silitonga said.
'After questioning them, we found that they had committed permit violations so they'll be deported. They had filmed a protest and they did so outside the areas they were permitted,' he said.
The journalists had just arrived in Jayapura to make a documentary about an ongoing census when they stopped to film a human rights rally outside the Papuan legislative council.
Mr Silitonga said Koenig only had a permit to film 'cultural activities' in certain areas, while Lorthiois did not have a journalist visa.
Papua, on the far eastern extreme of the Indonesian archipelago, is off-limits to foreign journalists and aid workers without special permission, which is rarely given. -- AFP