Indonesians Are Delaying Our Trial, Says Academic

A Scottish academic who went on trial yesterday in Indonesia for violating her tourist visa in the conflict-ravaged province of Aceh accused the prosecution of prolonging her detention for as long as possible.

Lesley McCulloch, 40, from Dunoon in Argyll, spent less than half an hour in the dock because the judge said he had no choice but to adjourn the case until tomorrow after prosecutors failed to produce any of the six main witnesses they said they had summoned.

A clearly disappointed and frustrated Ms McCulloch, who has been in detention since September 10 with an American friend, Joy Sadler, 57, a nurse from Iowa, said there was no excuse for the witnesses not being present.

"[The prosecutors] knew we were going to trial and they should have got the witnesses from south Aceh," she said. "It's a game. From the day that we were arrested they have been playing games with us. It now makes me really angry that they are playing games with Joy's health because she's pretty sick and [yet] they continue to play games."

Ms Sadler, who is HIV positive, has reportedly suffered numerous illnesses during their detention in a 15ft sq office in the police headquarters detective centre, which has no external windows.

Ms McCulloch, who has had severe back problems, has also been hospitalised on at least one occasion.

She said there was no justification for prolonging the case for as long as the authorities have because neither woman is contesting the main charge that they violated the terms of their tourist visa.

"It's a visa problem," she said through the bars of the court cell she was sharing with three young men charged with drugs offences.

"We just want to go home," she added. "We've been at the police headquarters for nine weeks now; we don't want to stay any longer."

Ms Sadler's case, which was heard immediately after Ms McCulloch's, was also adjourned until tomorrow.

The Scottish academic, who until recently was attached to the University of Tasmania, has regularly accused the military of gross human rights violations and making a fortune from illegal businesses they run in Aceh and elsewhere in Indonesia.

The women are accused of entering the conflict zone and meeting with the Free Aceh Movement separatists, who have been fighting for independence since 1976. When they were detained, soldiers found photos, a video of the women with the separatists, and a laptop computer in Ms McCulloch's bag which contained maps of police and army positions and data about the conflict she is compiling for a book.

When giving evidence in Ms Sadler's case yesterday, Ms McCulloch admitted they met the separatists but claimed it was an accident as she said they were accosted by six men armed with guns.

"We were forced [to go with them] but not at gunpoint," she said. "They didn't push us but they had guns and we thought it was a good idea to accept their invitation to go with them."