Fed: Academic says she was victim of Indonesian justice

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Fed: Academic says she was victim of Indonesian justice

CANBERRA, Dec 31 AAP - A former Tasmanian academic, accused of spying in Indonesia'sAceh province and jailed over lesser charges of visa violations, today said she had beena victim of Indonesia's corrupt justice system.

British-born Lesley McCulloch, a former University of Tasmania lecturer, was arrestedin September, along with an American colleague, and accused of spying in restive Acehprovince.

Thousands of people have been killed in the long-running religious conflict in thestaunchly Muslim province, which has a long history of defending its independence.

Dr McCulloch, regarded as an expert on the area, was accused of carrying documentsand maps detailing sensitive military positions to a separatist rebel group.

But through her trial she maintained her innocence and said she and US nurse Joy Saddlerhad been forced into the rebel areas by gunpoint.

Dr McCulloch has now been sentenced to five-months' jail over reduced charges of breachingtourist visa conditions.

She said her sentence had been intended as a warning to other foreigners.

"Obviously they want to make an example of us and show foreigners that if you violateyour tourist visa, especially in areas like Aceh and other areas of conflict, this iswhat can happen to you," she told ABC Radio from her jail in Indonesia.

"For me, because of the work that I do on military and police corruption, I alwaysbelieved that they would probably sentence me to a bit more time, because the whole processhas been driven by hatred and fear and paranoia of my work and of me."

Dr McCulloch completed a one-year contract with the University of Tasmania's Schoolof Asian Languages and Studies in July and then went to Indonesia.

She said there had been pressure throughout her trial for her to receive a tough sentence.

"I know that the judge was under pressure from the military to make me pay for somepast misdeeds by exposing some of the military and police corruption that's been goingon, then relating it to the human rights abuses here," she said.

"So I know that the local military are extremely angry with me."

Dr McCulloch told the court she had been beaten by the military and sexually harassedby the police while in custody.

The alleged documents, she said, had been simply computer emails and publicly-available maps.

"Of course I regret having that stuff on there, but I think that at the end of theday that even if I hadn't had the maps and other documents, I think the process and theoutcome would have been exactly the same," she said.

AAP rft/csd/bwl

KEYWORD: INDON DETAIN SECOND DAYLEAD