JAKARTA (Radio New Zealand International / Pacific Media Watch / Jakarta Post): Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, one of the Indonesian presidential candidates, says if he wins the presidential election in July, he will allow the international media and non-governmental organisations into West Papua, reports RNZI.
The Jakarta Post reported that Jokowi said Indonesia would open West Papua to reporters because it had "nothing to hide".
The Free West Papua Campaign reported today that Australian journalist Mark Davis had recently been followed and filmed by "seen and unseen Indonesian police, military and intelligence" during a trip to West Papua for the SBS Dateline programme.
Davis "managed to get out of he capital city Jayapura where he met with Papuans who told him horrific accounts of regular murder, torture and human rights violations by the Indonesian authorities", the campaign said.
Last year, a petition to revoke the ban on media reporting from West Papua was set up by press freedom groups. This after a promise to allow the international media into West Papua turned out to be false.
PMW reported at the time that the arduous visa application process was still in place. This compels journalists to apply to the Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs for special permission to travel, provide several details about their sources, contacts and anyone they will interview and then wait for a special "clearing house" meeting, involving 18 Indonesian government departments, including police and the military, to decide whether to grant the visa or not.
"Many applications for travel features to the Raja Ampat diving site are approved, but most applications for serious reporting are rejected", PMW reported.
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