JAKARTA (Europe Online / Pacific Media Watch): The two French journalists detained by Indonesian authorities for reporting on Indonesia's human rights atrocities in West Papua will know in seven days time whether they will face a trial or not.
Valentine Bourrat and Thomas Dandois, of Arte TV, have been in jail for two months, accused of violating their tourist visas.
Europe Online reported yesterday that police had finally finished investigating the alleged immigration violations and had handed the files over to prosecutors, who have seven days to decide whether the case should go to court.
The fate of Bourrat and Dandois has hung in the balance for several weeks now, with Indonesian authorities saying they will seek the maximum jail term for an immigration violation of five years in prison.
Most foreigners caught reporting on a tourist visa in West Papua are deported, and not put on trial.
There have been protests across the globe for the release of Bourrat and Dandoi.
There is no word on the fate of Areki Wanimbo, a West Papuan independence leader who they interviewed the day before their arrest. Wanimbo's lawyer, Anum Siregar, was attacked last month.
Foreign journalists are effectively banned from West Papua through draconian "journalist visa" rules, and their local sources face great danger from the Indonesian military and intelligence.
Another West Papuan regional independence leader, Marthinus Yohame, was killed five weeks ago, apparently by Indonesian security forces. Yohame vanished the day after holding a press conference in West Papua where he condemned the Indonesian military occupation.
He also reportedly met with Bourrat and Dandois. Yohame was found floating in a sack in a river with his hands and feet tied, and having been shot.
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