(CCPJ/IFEX) – CCPJ reports that Indonesian authorities have blacklisted and deported John Stackhouse, a correspondent with the Canadian national daily “The Globe and Mail”. On 10 November 1998, Stackhouse, the newspaper’s New Delhi correspondent, was detained by immigration officials at Jakarta’s international airport when he arrived on a flight from Kuala Lumpur. He was told […]
(CCPJ/IFEX) – CCPJ reports that Indonesian authorities have blacklisted and
deported John Stackhouse, a correspondent with the Canadian national daily
“The Globe and Mail”.
On 10 November 1998, Stackhouse, the newspaper’s New Delhi correspondent,
was detained by immigration officials at Jakarta’s international airport
when he arrived on a flight from Kuala Lumpur. He was told his name was on
an Indonesian armed forces blacklist, denying him permission to enter the
country and forcing him to board a return flight to Kuala Lumpur. Stackhouse
had earlier obtained a journalist’s visa from the Indonesian embassy in New
Delhi.
“The Globe and Mail” foreign editor Patrick Martin said he regretted the
incident. “It is disappointing that, having fully complied with the
Indonesian immigration procedures, he was denied access to such an important
country at such an important time,” Martin said.
Stackhouse was planning to cover a special meeting of the People’s
Consultative Assembly, the first formal political event since the fall of
President Suharto last May. The assembly is working on a framework for a new
democratic political system in Indonesia. A general election is expected
next year.
According to Martin, on 11 November, Indonesian officials explained to a
Canadian embassy spokesperson in Jakarta that Stackhouse’s name had been
blacklisted due to a series of articles he had written in 1997 on East
Timor. They also said that the measure was temporary and would be lifted in
December, leading Martin to believe that the reporter was denied entry to
prevent him from reporting on violent protests in Jakarta surrounding the
assembly hearings.
Background Information
Before Suharto’s fall, Indonesia regularly expelled journalists for writing
critical stories. Canadian reporter Paul Watson was expelled in early May
after covering riots in the city of Medan in Sumatra. Authorities said that
Watson, then with “The Toronto Star” daily, was working without a
journalist’s visa.
