Reporters call on Indon government to free detained French journalists
AN INTERNATIONAL media organization has launched a petition for the immediate release of two of its correspondents detained in Indonesia for three months now.
Reporters Without Borders (RWB), along with its support committee in France, have decried the detention by the Indonesian government of French journalists Valentine Bourrat and Thomas Dandois.
“The aim of this petition is to make the Indonesian authorities realize that it is absolutely unacceptable for them to continue detaining these journalists with the aim of deterring media coverage of Papua,” RWB Secretary General Christophe Deloire said in the petition.
Founded in Montpellier, France in 1985, RWB covers news in five continents through its network of over 150 correspondents. It is registered as a non-profit organization in France since 1995 and has a consultant status at the United Nations and UNESCO. It currently has 10 offices and sections worldwide.
CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO SIGN THE PETITION AND PLEASE USE THE HASHTAG #FreeValentineThomasNow
THOMAS AND VALENTINE | Photo from RWB
Bourrat and Dandoi were arrested while preparing a report for the Franco-German TV station Arte. They have been accused of violating immigration regulations and are facing the possibility of a long trial and a sentence of up to five years in prison. The French journalists are currently detained in Jayapura, the capital of the eastern province of Papua on the island of New Guinea.
“(They) did not apply for press visas because such visas are rarely granted and would have resulted in restrictions on their ability to work freely,” Deloire said.
The petition—which focuses on “fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to inform, and concern the immense majority”—has already been signed by leading journalists such as Édith Bouvier, Claire Chazal, Laurent Delahousse, Guy Lagache, Jean-Pierre Pernaut, Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, David Pujadas, Harry Roselmack, and Melissa Theuriaux. – Cong B. Corrales