Indonesia called me a spy, says Malaysian haze filmmaker

Filmmaker Isa Batharul Zaman, popularly known as Isa Isarb, says he was recently detained by Indonesian authorities and accused of being a Malaysian spy when he was arrested while filming forest fire protestors.

He said he was in Indonesia to film a documentary about the haze and had stopped on his way to an area affected by forest fires. Some 10 to 15 officers approached him and asked if he was “Isa Batharul”, making him uneasy as he was not generally known by his birth name.

“We were then arrested for allegedly misusing our tourist visas. We were told that our visas did not allow us to film or be present at demonstrations,” he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian today.

Isa said he was questioned at a police station, where he was asked to state the real reason he had come to Indonesia, and spent the night in a lockup.

He said he was accused of being a spy the next day, with the authorities citing his conversations with several Malaysian politicians as evidence.

“The conversations they referred to were between me and the Malaysian deputy prime minister’s team, as well as Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and communications minister Fahmi Fadzil. Those conversations were related to interviews I had sought for the documentary I was filming,” he said.

Isa said his invitation to Parliament earlier that week had also heightened suspicions during his questioning.

“I was invited there solely to interview the MP. The location was chosen to accommodate his busy schedule, especially since he had recently got married,” he said, referring to Syed Saddiq.

He said he was allowed to return to Malaysia because of Putrajaya’s good relations with Jakarta.

Isa said he plans to release his documentary on his YouTube channel on Nov 16, after the Melaka polls, but added that he does not want the matter to be politicised.