[Nasional-e] Aceh police extend detention of Westerners

[Holy Uncle]

http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/10/03/aceh.detain.reut/index.html

Aceh police extend detention of Westerners
Thursday, October 3, 2002 Posted: 1101 GMT




JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) -- Indonesian police have extended the 
detention of two Western women accused of associating with rebels in 
troubled Aceh province, while prosecutors decide whether to make a case 
against them.

Without the extension Briton Lesley McCulloch and American Joy Lee Sadler 
would have been due for release earlier this week.

Police have already finished compiling their initial evidence against the 
two and submitted dossiers to state prosecutors who must decide whether 
there is sufficient basis to take the case to court and when to do so.

The two are suspected of activities not authorized by their tourist visas. 
If charged with visa violations, they could each face a maximum jail 
sentence of five years or a fine of 25 million rupiah ($2,778).

An Aceh police official said the pair's detention was extended to aid the 
prosecutors' probe. Under Indonesian law, authorities can prolong detention 
for a maximum of 40 days if more time is needed for investigation.

"The extension started yesterday. We had to do it because (the first) 
detention deadline was over by Tuesday. But I think we won't be taking all 
40 days," police spokesman Taufik Sugiyono told Reuters from the provincial 
capital of Banda Aceh, 1,700 km (1,060 miles) northwest of Jakarta.

Police and prosecutors denied the extension was prompted by moves to link 
the two to espionage crimes as reported by an Indonesian newspaper. 
Indonesia currently has no law that directly deals with espionage since the 
revocation of draconian anti-subversive laws three years ago.

"I've never said that the two foreigners might be spies. We currently don't 
have laws on espionage," said Tengku Lufti, head of the Aceh prosecutors' 
office.

Aceh trial expected
He added that he did expect a trial of the two to be held in the western 
Aceh town of Meulaboh but did not elaborate on the likely timing.

The women were detained by Indonesian authorities during a security sweep on 
September 11 in the remote southern part of Aceh, where separatist rebels 
from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have been fighting Jakarta rule for 
decades.

Indonesian authorities say the women were found with material on GAM -- 
including photos of GAM activities, data on military posts in Aceh and notes 
on the rebels' structure -- which suggested they had violated the terms of 
their tourist visas.

McCulloch lectures at the University of Tasmania in Australia and often 
writes about Aceh. Sadler, from Waterloo, Iowa, is a nurse with experiences 
treating refugees in conflict zones.

Several rounds of peace talks have failed to halt the decades-long conflict 
in resource-rich Aceh which has left thousands dead over the years.



_________________________________________________________________
Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. 
http://www.hotmail.com