Vaudine England, Jakarta – A spreading clampdown on media coverage of events in Indonesia's "hot-spots" has been highlighted by the arrest of a Swiss man in the troubled province of Irian Jaya for not having proper documentation.

Oswald Iten, accused of being a journalist working illegally, faces deportation or five years in prison. Irian Jaya police chief Brigadier-General Silvanus Wenas said Iten was arrested on Saturday at a hotel in Jayapura after he covered the anniversary of a declaration of independence.

Iten, 50, smuggled an appeal from his cell, arguing that he was a tourist and had only been taking photos. The Swiss Embassy in Jakarta sent an envoy to Jayapura yesterday to assist.

Separatists in Irian Jaya want independence for the province and have staged a series of controversial flag-raising ceremonies, which have sparked clashes with the Indonesian military. Security has been stepped up and regulations for visiting tourists and journalists tightened.

Unlike the arrest of an American in the highland town of Wamena in October, Indonesian officials are not claiming Iten was involved in espionage. But news organisations fear the arrest signals greater determination on the part of Jakarta to control coverage of the country, especially from designated hot spots such as Irian Jaya and Aceh, where secessionist movements are active, and the Malukus Islands, where communal conflict is continuing.

"It's not a matter of control," Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Sulaiman Abdulmanan said. "We are an open society. But we don't want to be blamed for anything that could happen to foreigners. We don't say that West Papua [Irian Jaya] is a dangerous place. It is a trouble spot and so journalists should know what to do. It's for their own safety."

A diplomat due to fly to Jayapura today was able to speak to Iten yesterday and said he was being held in a local prison with no beds and five other inmates. He said Iten had not been mistreated, but was "surprised" to be in jail for taking pictures.

"For me, this is an issue of freedom of information," deputy chief of mission at Jakarta's Swiss Embassy, Norbert Barlocher, said. "If people can't take pictures in a place then it's fair to say the country has a problem. I could talk to him and he said he had been allowed to go to his hotel to collect his things. He's quite optimistic, not complaining about the conditions. He's just surprised to be put in prison for taking pictures."

Indonesia decrees that journalists covering news events should secure a journalist visa beforehand. This also was the case under former president Suharto, when journalist visa applications could languish in bureaucracy for months and the Government ran a blacklist of banned correspondents.

Since former president Bacharuddin Habibie, these rules have loosened, with journalists able to cover Jakarta unofficially from time to time. When Abdurrahman Wahid became President in October last year he abolished the Department of Information, reducing it to a body with undefined tasks.

For a while after his election there even was talk of abolishing journalist accreditation completely, in line with demands from regional press associations. Now the Foreign Affairs Department has taken over all journalist accreditation duties and issued warnings to Jakarta-based correspondents not to use stories from any visiting correspondents without proper visas. Verbal warnings have been given to visiting journalists with proper visas not to travel to the restive provinces.