By Jakarta Globe on 09:48 pm Sep 05, 2014
Jakarta. The Press Council says the government should deport two journalists from French who were arrested in Papua while doing reporting work after entering the country on tourist visas.
“The case of these two foreign journalists is only an immigration violation, and we have sent a letter about this case to the Immigration [office]. We suggest the two journalists be deported — send them back to their home country, problem solved,” Bagir Manan, chairman of the Press Council, was quoted as saying by Metrotvnews.com on Friday.
The Papua Police however are investigating Thomas Dandois, 40, and Valentine Bourrat, 29, for possible connections to armed separatists in Papua.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) also called upon the Indonesian government to send the two back to France.
“They formed a research team that made contact with sources before the arrival of the reporting team,” AJI chairman Eko Maryadi said, as quoted by Antara.
Dandois and Bourrat, who work for the French-German TV channel Arte, were arrested in Wamena on Aug. 6.