23 Jun 2015

Further mixed messages from Indonesia on foreign media access

3:09 pm on 23 June 2015

In another contradiction of the Indonesian President's vow to open up the provinces of Papua and West Papua to international media, the country's military chief says the policy of having guards accompany journalists will most likely remain.

General Moeldoko says the purpose of the measure is to protect foreign journalists in case of dangerous incidents.

However, foreign journalists say guards are used to restrict where they can go and who they can speak to.

Before coming to power, and again this year, President Joko Widodo said he would open up Papua to foreign media and NGOs.

Indonesia's Papua region: the provinces of West Papua and Papua

Indonesia's Papua region: the provinces of West Papua and Papua Photo: RNZ

Last week Indonesia's first Papuan woman to be appointed to cabinet, Yohana Yembise, said journalists can help by reporting on problems in Papua, such as violence.

Last year, two French journalists were detained and later released early from a 10-week jail term, for misusing their tourist visas.

They were making a documentary about the separatist movement in Papua.