Australian journalist thrown out of Papua for 'hurting soldiers' feelings' amid malnutrition crisis

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-03/australian-journalist-aexpelled-from-png/9393520

Australian journalist thrown out of Papua for 'hurting soldiers' feelings' amid malnutrition crisis

By Indonesia correspondent Adam Harvey

Posted 16 minutes ago

An Australian journalist has been expelled from the Indonesian province of Papua after her tweets angered the military.

Key points:

• Henschke had been reporting on malnutrition and a measles outbreak that has killed scores of children
• She tweeted about aid supplies that appeared to contain mainly junk food
• She has been reporting from Indonesia for 12 years

PHOTO: BBC journalist Rebecca Henschke (left) is escorted out of Papua by the Indonesian military. (Instagram: tni_indonesia_update)

Authorities said BBC Indonesia bureau chief Rebecca Henschke was escorted out of the province after her social media posts "hurt the feelings of soldiers".

Foreign reporters are not normally allowed into Papua because of Indonesia's sensitivity about the independence movement there, but restrictions have been loosened to allow coverage of a measles and malnutrition crisis that has killed scores of children near the town of Agats.

Henschke and a BBC TV news crew had permission to report on the crisis but she was detained and questioned after she posted several tweets from Papua.

One of the tweets shows a photo of supplies sitting on a dock and says, "This is the aid coming in for severely malnourished children in Papua - instant noodles, super sweet soft drinks and biscuits."

Another tweet says "children in hospital eating chocolate biscuits and that's it".

Henschke was questioned by military intelligence and police for five hours on Thursday afternoon.

She was then held by immigration officers for 24 hours before being escorted out of Papua this morning.

The BBC crew are now back in Jakarta.

"The tweet is not in line with the truth," said the spokesman of the military in Papua, Colonel Muhammad Aidi.

"What was captured in the photo of the speedboat dock is the supplies from merchants who happened to be in that place," he said.

Those tweets remain up on Henschke's account.

She deleted another tweet that showed a photo of soldiers with a caged young bird.

Colonel Aidi said the military objected to that tweet because it implied the soldiers were involved in an illegal wildlife purchase.

"The soldiers were looking at the birds that were offered to them," he said.

"How come Rebecca wrote and uploaded the picture like that? This is defamation; someone's picture was taken secretly then distributed to media with information that is not in line with the truth."

Colonel Aidi said it was because of this tweet that Henschke was questioned by Asmat police department. 

"For further investigation Rebecca will be taken to Timika to be questioned by immigration," he said.

Henschke, 37, is originally from Armidale in NSW.

She has been reporting from Indonesia for 12 years.

PHOTO: Indonesia's military has been sending medicine and supplies to Papua province to help contain an outbreak of measles.(Reuters: M Agung Rajasa/Antara Foto)