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HUMAN RIGHTS FOR EACH PERSON REGARDLESS OF AGE, RACE, RELIGION OR POLITICS
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LATEST NEWS
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FPSS APPEAL FOR AUSSIES RELEASE
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The Foreign Prisoner Support Service have been working behind the scenes in
support of the situation regarding the Australians detained in Papua.
Essentially giving advice, explaining to their friends/family how these
international processes work, what to expect from the Australian Government,
how the consular support role works etc... FPSS are in communication with
the Australians detained and do not wish to disclose further on that level
but all of the Australians detained are now quite distressed by this ongoing
situation. FPSS have been told by one of them that they are all generally
feeling frustrated by the situation, deep concern for their continued well
being and whilst they are grateful for the [tremendous] support given to
them by the Australian Consul [James Smith] on the ground, they have
requested FPSS plead on their behalf to the Australian Government to
activate an emergency rescue flight, as they have no means of leaving their
present location. They are camped out in the departure area at the Merauke
airport and have no means of departing because their plane has been
impounded. The high court in the provincial capital of Jayapura cleared them
of all charges. They have been caught up now in a bureaucratic nightmare.
One of the Australians' said to FPSS on the telephone today "please help us
..... we're sorry for any problem this has caused, but please we want to come
home".
There is a sense of real urgency and distress in the voice of one Australian
FPSS spoke to (Fri 13, 2009). With the weekend approaching it is playing on
their minds that their situation is hopeless. FPSS advocates are trying to
keep their spirits up as is the Consul on the ground but with the Australian
waters only 60 nautical miles from where they are, they are becoming
desperate!
FPSS implore the Australian Foreign Minister to diplomatically express
concern over the delays.
Kay Danes
Advocate
Foreign Prisoner Support Service
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Detained Aussies not spies: friend
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Sarah Elks | September 15, 2008 -
Article from: The Australian
THE suggestion that five Australians detained by Indonesian authorities for entering Papua illegally are spies is "ridiculous", a friend of the detained pilot and his wife says.
The two women and three men were detained on arrival at Mopah Airport, Merauke, Papua on Friday for not having flight, security or immigration approvals.
Pilot William Henry Scott-Bloxam, who runs a charter plane business from Horn Island in the Torres Strait, his wife Vera Scott-Bloxam, a former air hostess, and their friends Hubert Hofer, Karen Burke and Keith Mortimer are being held in a local hotel.
A friend of the Scott-Bloxams told The Australian the pair were in good spirits and had probably gone to Papua for a "weekend soiree''.
"It may have been a charter or perhaps a soiree for the weekend,'' he said.
"Scotty (Mr Scott-Bloxam) wouldn't have gone without making the checks, he used to be a 747 pilot.''
"It's a complete misunderstanding on (the Indonesian officials) part.''
He said Mr Scott-Bloxam had probably been told he could sort out the documents when he arrived in Papua.
He said he had spoken to the chief pilot of Mr Scott-Bloxam's airline, Cape Air Transport, who said the five were "ok''.
It has been reported that a Mopah airport official ordered intelligence officers to investigate whether the five Australians were spies.
The pilot's friend said: "the insinuation they're spying is ridiculous''.
"They're adventurers; they'll take it all in their stride.
"They'll get back and have a beer and a yarn and laugh about it.''
Indonesia imposes tight restrictions on travel to Papua, where a small guerrilla force has been waging a low-level separatist insurgency since the 1960s.
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Aussies jailed in Papua free to return home
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By Indonesia correspondent Geoff Thompson
Five Australians detained in Papua since last September have been allowed to return home and could arrive as early as today.
A high court has thrown out their convictions for entering Papua without visas.
"They are so happy hearing that they can go home," the Australians' lawyer Ephraim Fangahoi said.
"They hugged and kissed me to thank me."
Pilot William Scott-Bloxam, 62, his wife Vera, 54, and their passengers, Hubert Hofer, 57, Keith Mortimer, 60, and Karen Burke, 51, have been free from detention for a week, while remaining confined to the town of Merauke.
But now, their convictions and jail terms of up to three years have been quashed by Jayapura's High Court and they have been ordered to leave Papua in the light plane they flew there in.
The Australians had argued that they flew to Papua to assess tourism opportunities and received incorrect information that they could get a visa on arrival.
"I went to the airport with Mr Scott-Bloxam," Mr Fangahoi said. "The plane's full of fuel and the engine has been started, ready for take off."
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