Nessen facing trial

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE stringer William "Billy" Nessen is scheduled to be tried for immigration violations by the Indonesian government this week. The charges, which carry a potential prison term of six years, stem from Nessen's coverage of the ongoing civil war in the Indonesian province of Aceh (see "To Tell the Truth," 7/9/03).

The government claims Nessen, a 46-year-old former Berkeley resident, misused his visa and flouted press restrictions by traveling last month with guerrillas from the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or Free Aceh Movement, a separatist group embroiled in a long-running war with the Indonesian military. With Nessen facing penitentiary time for his reportage, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists is demanding the journo's "immediate and unconditional release" and has issued a new report slamming the Indonesian army for adopting a media policy that "keeps local journalists hemmed in and effectively bars foreign correspondents from the scene of the conflict."

Interestingly, an Indonesian general interviewed by the committee claims the U.S. military had provided the Indonesians with a blueprint for muzzling the press during wartime. "These regulations were sent to us by the U.S. Pacific Command," the general said. "It is what they used in Iraq." (A.C. Thompson)

For more information on the case go to the Committee to Protect Journalists Web site, www.cpj.org.