JAKARTA (IO) -- Police in the Indonesian eastern province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) refused to let two Portuguese
journalists enter the area because they did not hold a permit from the local immigration office.
"We stopped the two journalists because they only produced a permit from the Indonesian consulate in Dili and had no
permit from the local immigration office," chief of the Belu police office Lt. Col. SM Simatupang said on Saturday, as
reported by Antara.
The two Portuguese journalists are Antonio Joaquin Zambojinho Velades from RDP and Joao Pedro Martins Da Fonseca from
Diario de Noticias publications.
"They only held a journalistic visa and intended to enter East Nusa Tenggara through Mota Ain bordering on East Timor to
cover the latest developments about East Timorese refugees camped in West Timor (East Nusa Tenggara)," he said.
The two journalists returned to East Timor on Saturday after being briefed by a liaison officer of the UN Transitional
Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), he said.
Actually, the local security agencies do not ban foreign journalists from covering the condition of East Timorese
refugees camped in NTT, he said. "We do not ban foreign journalists from visiting here so long as they report to the
immigration authorities. If necessary, police will escort them while
performing their journalistic duties," he said.
East Timorese militias fled to NTT after the former Portuguese territory
voted for independence last August.
+++niuswire
PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors
and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media
ownership in the Pacific region. Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Program at the University of
the South Pacific, Bushfire Media, the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, and Pactok Communications, in
Sydney and Port Moresby.
(c)1996-2000 Copyright - All rights reserved.
Items are provided solely for review purposes as a non-profit educational service. Copyright remains the property of the
original producers as indicated. Recipients should seek permission from the copyright owner for any publishing.
Copyright owners not wishing their materials to be posted by PMW please contact us. The views expressed in material
listed by PMW are not necessarily the views of PMW or its members.
Recipients should rely on their own inquiries before making decisions based on material listed in PMW. Please copy
appeals to PMW and acknowledge source.
For further information, inquiries about joining the Pacific Media Watch
listserve, articles for publication, and giving feedback contact Pacific
Media Watch at: E-mail: niusedita@pactok.net.au or: bfmedia@mpx.com.au Fax: (+679) 30 5779 or (+612) 9660 1804 Mail: PO
Box 9, Annandale, NSW 2038, Australia or, c/o Journalism, PO Box 1168, Suva, Fiji Website:
http://www.pactok.net/docs/pmw/