Bali Deports Two Australian Journalists Covering Schapelle Corby Parole

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, Mar 07, 2014

Australian and Indonesian journalists crowd around a police van carrying
 convicted Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby following her release from
 Kerobokan Prison in Denpasar, Bali on February 10, 2014. (Reuters Photo/
Jason Reed)

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.

Related Article:

Indonesia Threatens to Revoke Corby’s Parole if She ‘Causes a Stir’ With TV Interview