Ekip
October 01, 2015•Update: October 01, 2015
By Ainur Rohmah
JAKARTA
A local journalists association criticized Thursday the detention and trial of two British journalists who face up to five years imprisonment in Indonesia for working while visiting the country on tourist permits.
The comments come as Neil Bonner, 32, and Rebecca Prosser, 31, undergo a further hearing at Batam District Court for violating the country's immigration laws.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists says the trial of the two -- arrested by the navy while making a National Geographic Channel documentary about piracy in the Strait of Malacca -- was excessive.
Batam is a group of islands in the Strait, just off the coast of Singapore.
Alliance president Suwarjono -- many Indonesians go by only one name -- said in a press release Thursday that immigration officials could have applied appropriate sanctions instead of detaining the pair for four months and then sending them to trial.
Instead, he argued, they should simply have been deported.
"Why did Neil and Rebecca have to wait four months in custody before proceeding with the trial? This is the culmination of the Indonesian government's excesses," said Suwarjono.
He added that criminal sanctions against the journalists would only add to impressions of Indonesia as a country that restricts press freedom.
"Moreover, we have information the two journalists had applied to the Embassy of Indonesia in the UK for visas but there was no answer," Suwarjono said.
Journalists who cover Indonesia must obtain a permit from the authorities -- but the process can take months and the applicant can be rejected.
The two were arrested May 28, 2015 along with nine Indonesians who were helping with the filming.
In Monday's session, Public Prosecutor Bani Immanuel Ginting had accused the two journalists of intentionally misusing a tourist visa to work making a documentary.
Ginting claimed that Bonner had acted as cameraman and Prosser as director, while some Indonesians -- also caught and facing charges in a separate trial --worked as translators, while others acted out roles in the documentary as pirates and the boat captain.
He added that their actions violated immigration laws carrying a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment.
Last year, two journalists from France -- Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat -- spent 2-1/2 months in jail for violating their residence permits in a similar case.
