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Journalist Allan Nairn Freed - Now In Singapore
The following is a selection of news items, and internet based media advisories on the status of American Jounalist Allan Nairn who has now been freed by Indonesian authorities and deported to Singapore.
Nairn was arrested in Dili over APEC weekend. He writes for www.thenation.com, a US Newspaper, and has written several accounts implicating Indonesian army chief General Wiranto and the US Government with the militia operation in East Timor.
1. MEDIA ADVISORY
Monday, September 20, 1999 at 7:15am EDT
Allan Nairn has arrived safety in Singapore.
2. TRANSCRIPT of AP REPORT ON NAIRN'S ARRIVAL IN SINGAPORE
Reporter Discusses Indonesia Rebels
By JAMIE TARABAY Associated Press Writer
SINGAPORE (AP) - Militiamen opposed to independence for East Timor operated freely from police and army bases in the territory, a U.S. journalist deported from Indonesia said Monday.
Allan Nairn, a free-lance reporter for the New York-based magazine The Nation, said that while he was detained at Koren military headquarters in Dili - East Timor's provincial capital - he saw groups of militiamen. One of the officers who questioned him said they were with the notorious Aitarak militia.
``You could see them going out on their motorbikes and their trucks fully armed to do their attacks around Dili and it was the same story at Polda, the police base in Dili,'' he said. ``You could see the uniformed Aitarak people wandering in and out of the intelligence and operations rooms, so clearly the militias were operating out of the army and police bases.''
The militiamen, backed by some members of the Indonesian army, unleashed a wave of killings, burnings and lootings in the half-island territory after East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia in a U.N.-sponsored referendum on Aug. 30.
One of the few Western journalists to remain in Dili in recent weeks, Nairn was arrested Sept. 14 in Dili, questioned by the military, and deported. He flew from Jakarta to Singapore on Monday. Nairn, 43, of New Jersey, said he hopes to return to East Timor as soon as possible.
TRANSCRIPT ENDS
3.
MEDIA ADVISORY
Sunday, September 19, 1999 at 3:00pm
EDT
Contact: Amy Goodman, (212) 397-0886
John M.
Miller, (718) 596-7668, (516) 317-6257 (mobile)
Journalist Nairn to be Deported, Now in Bali
Journalist Allan Nairn, detained by Indonesia after reporting from East Timor, has been flown to Bali. He is currently at Bali's international airport and will spend the night in Immigration Detention/Quarantine. He has been told he will fly to Singapore on Monday morning.
Monday morning he will be put on Garuda Flight #405 to Jakarta (leaving Bali, 9:50 am; arriving Jakarta, 10:30 am). He will then take Garuda flight #826 (leaving Jakarta 11:45 am; arriving Singapore, 2:25 pm).
Nairn is eager to speak to the press about his experiences on his arrival.
Please note all times listed are Garuda's scheduled flight departures and arrivals.
ENDS
Alastair Thompson
Scoop Publisher
Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.
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