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New York, December 6, 2000 — CPJ is deeply concerned by the prolonged detention of Swiss journalist Oswald Iten in Jayapura, Irian Jaya, on suspicion that he violated Indonesia’s immigration laws by reporting without a press visa.
Police have threatened Iten with a five-year jail term for improper use of his tourist visa, according to the Agence France-Presse news service.
Iten, 50, is a veteran foreign affairs correspondent for the Zurich-based newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung. On the afternoon of December 2, police arrested the journalist at his hotel in the capital city of Jayapura. His arrest followed a raid on the headquarters of the West Papua independence movement, and comes amid a general crackdown on separatist activity in Irian Jaya province.
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