Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, Mar 07, 2014
Denpasar.
Two Australian journalists attempting to cover the story of freed drug mule
Schapelle Corby were deported on Friday for alleged visa violations.
Daniel
William Sutton, a reporter working for Australian TV network Channel 10, and
Nathan Mark Ritcher, a freelance photographer, were arrested in Kuta district —
close to where Schapelle is staying for her parole period.
“We will be
deporting them both this afternoon,” Bali Justice and Human Rights office head
Gusti Kompyang Adnyana said earlier on Friday.
Sutton and
Ricther were making preparations to do a live report when the officers arrested
them on Friday.
Adnyana
said the two journalists violated Indonesian law by attempting to report using
visas on arrival, which are intended for tourists.
“A visa on
arrival is only meant for tourism purposes,” he said. “It cannot be used for
journalism or any commercial activities.”
Sutton and
Ritcher were detained for two days prior to their deportation.
Adnyana
denied that his office was discriminating against Australians by deporting the
journalists. He said other foreign journalists were allowed to stay and work
because they didn’t violate Indonesia’s visa policy.
When asked
why the immigration office did not arrest journalists from Channel Seven Australia
who interviewed Corby’s sister, Mercedes, Adnyana said his office only managed
to arrest two journalists so far.
Adnyana
said the arrest should serve as a lesson for foreign journalists so they would
not neglect the importance of possessing proper documentation.
“They must
use a journalist visa that has been approved by the Ministry of Foreign Afairs
and Ministry of Communication and Information,” he said.
Media
coverage surrounding Schapelle Corby has become the source of controversy after
the Indonesian government threatened to revoke her parole following her
sister’s interview.
Mercedes
apologized for the interview and said she did not mean to insult Indonesia with
her statements.
Schapelle
was released from Bali’s Kerobokan Prison on Feb. 10 after spending more than
nine years behind bars for attempting to smuggle 4.1 kilograms of marijuana
into Bali in her surf gear. She was sentenced to serve 20 years in 2005, but
her term was reduced by annual sentence cuts and by a five-year presidential remission.
She must
remain in Indonesia until 2017 as a requirement of her parole.
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