Senate supports Greens motion on release of French journalists in West Papua
The Senate has voted in favour of the following Senate motion moved by Greens Senator Richard Di Natale:
That the Senate—
(a) notes that:
(i) freedom of the press is an important element of any functioning democracy, and
(ii) access to Papuan provinces by foreign journalists has been tightly restricted by the Indonesian Government;
(b) expresses its concern at the ongoing detention of French journalists, Mr Thomas Dandois and Ms Valentine Bourrat, on 6 August 2014, while they were filming a documentary for the FrancoGerman television channel Arte, noting that they entered Indonesia on a tourist visa;
(c) welcomes public statements from Indonesia’s President-elect, Mr Joko Widodo, that Papuan provinces should be open to foreign journalists; and
(d) calls on the Australian Government to request that the Indonesian Government release Mr Dandois and Ms Bourrat as a sign of its commitment to more open Papuan provinces.