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Paras Indonesia, 11, 28 2005 @ 08:17 pm

Minister Deems Jones a Security Threat

Roy Tupai

Justice and Human Rights Minister has defended the government’s decision to ban American human rights activist and terrorism expert Sidney Jones from Indonesia, claiming her public comments are a threat to national security and stability.

The minister on Monday (28/11/05) said the move to bar Jones from entering the country for a year was based on intelligence and police information.

"The information and thoughts from various departments conclude that Sidney Jones is being barred to enter Indonesia for our security," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"We are not talking about security in a physical sense but security in relation to the stability of our life in the form of public opinion," he said.

Jones, who speaks Indonesian fluently and first came to the country in 1977, is the Southeast Asia project director of the International Crisis Group (ICG). She has produced numerous in-depth reports on local terrorism groups and on conflict areas such as Aceh, the Maluku islands, Sulawesi and Papua.

She is often quoted in the local and foreign media, although it’s unclear whether any of her recent public comments had upset any officials.

Jones was first expelled from Indonesia in June 2004 by the administration of ex-president Megawati Sukarnoputri after then State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Hendropriyono accused her of subversion and slandering Indonesia to get money from abroad.

Jones was eventually allowed back into Indonesia in July 2005, having obtained a work visa and residency permit under the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Last Thursday, she was again barred from entering the country, when returning from a two-day trip to Taiwan, where she had picked up an award from Time magazine on behalf of ICG.

Jones has now gone to Singapore and says no one in the Indonesian government has explained to her why she has been expelled.

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