Indonesia's public enemy No.1 in NZ

A man labelled public enemy No.1 by the Indonesian government slipped quietly into Whangarei this past week.

William Nessen, an American freelance journalist and photographer, was blacklisted by the Indonesia Government for his reporting of civil unrest in Aceh, at the tip of the island of Sumatra.

He was in Whangarei this week as part of a speaking tour of New Zealand describing his experiences in Aceh.

In recent years, Indonesia has witnessed a series of regional uprisings that have called into question the country's legitimacy and viability as a multi-ethnic state.

The longest- running and most intractable dispute lies in the northwestern, resource-rich province of Aceh, which is seeking independence from Indonesia.

Nessen has been covering the insurgency in Aceh for years. In May this year he followed Free Aceh Movement guerrilla's as they began a running battle with the Indonesian Army.

He attracted worldwide attention after the Indonesian government authorities demanded he give himself up to face possible espionage charges.

"I was denounced by the president (Abdurrahman Wahid)," Mr Nessen said.

"They were going to try me as a spy and, if convicted, kill me.

"My face was on TV every night, I became the most famous person in Indonesia."

After much international lobbying, Nessen was eventually tried on two immigration offences and was sentenced to 40 days' jail -- the time he had already served plus one day -- and banned from entering Indonesia for one year.

He said he lived one day at a time during his detention, not allowing himself to think about friends, family.

"In the end, the verdict had little to do with whether I had done anything wrong and largely to do with United States-Indonesian relations," he said.

As with East Timor, the world risked overlooking the ongoing suffering of the people of Aceh, Nessen said.

"It's a story people will regret that they didn't pay attention to," he said. "Sometimes conflicts in small places where terrible things are happening are a measure of the humanity of the rest of us."

He hoped his work in Aceh would spur on some international intervention.

"I'm hoping something will be done otherwise there is no point to journalism.

"I believe the primary job of a journalist is to shine a light on those places that the powers-that-be purposefully obscure, whether that's Aceh or documents that government or local government don't want people to know about."