Ex-Asbury Councilman deported from Indonesia
Keady says he was given the boot for protesting Nike labor conditions
Long-time labor activist James Keady — a former Asbury Park Councilman who unsuccessfully sought to regain his seat in last year’s election — was deported from Indonesia on Tuesday.
Keady [right, with fist in the air] is the director and founder of the Educating for Justice [EFJ] non-profit organization. Among his activities with the group is campaigning for workers’ rights at Nike manufacturing plants in Indonesia, a cause he’s concentrated on for over a decade.
In a message to EFJ supporters, the Asbury Park resident said the Jakarta government banned him from traveling back to Indonesia for at least six months. He was picked up by immigration officials after Indonesia intelligence officers “tailed” him at a May Day celebration in Jakarta, Keady said.
“The powers that be may think that by taking this action they are going to silence my voice and activism on this issue,” Keady wrote in his message to EFJ supporters. “To the contrary, I am as committed now as I have ever been to telling the world about Nike’s labor abuses in Indonesia. The truth does not need a passport or a visa to be heard.”
The following is Keady’s full statement:
On Tuesday, May 6th, I was deported from Indonesia and I have been banned from traveling there for at least six months.
I was picked up by immigration officers after being tailed by intel at the May Day celebrations in Jakarta.
I was brought in for hours of questioning, my passport was confiscated and I had to report back to the immigration office for additional questioning the next day. When the investigation was complete, I was told that I was being deported and that I could not travel to Indonesia for six months with the possibility that the ban could be extended indefinitely. I do not think it is any coincidence I was picked up a day after I stood in solidarity with hundreds of workers at a demonstration at Nike’s Indonesian headquarters in Jakarta.
The powers that be may think that by taking this action they are going to silence my voice and activism on this issue. To the contrary, I am as committed now as I have ever been to telling the world about Nike’s labor abuses in Indonesia. The truth does not need a passport or a visa to be heard.
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