Heroes Need Not Apply

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In June 2004 Indonesian authorities expelled Sidney Jones, the Jakarta-based Southeast Asia director of the International Crisis Group, from the country. While the government gave no official reason, it was no secret that Jones, an American, had riled Indonesia's armed forces with her reports on the military's actions in the provinces of Aceh and Papua. The ban was lifted after Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, running on a reform platform, was elected President in September of that year. Says Jones: "When we came back, we were told that everything was all right and that all problems had been resolved."

But last Thursday, when Jones, 53, was returning to Jakarta from Taipei after accepting a TIME "Asia's Heroes" award on Crisis Group's behalf, she was barred from entry and had to fly to Singapore instead. Immigration officials would only tell Jones that her residency visa had been revoked. "I am at a total loss as to why this decision has been made," she says. The expulsion letter "was dated Oct. 7 and there's absolutely nothing I can think of that we did before then that could have precipitated this."

With Yudhoyono overseas, no official in Jakarta seemed willing to say much about the expulsion of Jones, widely regarded as the world's leading expert on Jemaah Islamiah, the regional network of Islamic militants blamed for a string of bombings that have left hundreds dead. "We're looking into it, but at the moment all I can say is that I don't know," Information Minister Sofyan Djalil told TIME. A Foreign Affairs Department spokesman said that the decision "might be reviewed," but an official at the Immigration Office asserted that the ban would last one year.

Whatever happens, the episode will inevitably embarrass Yudhoyono, who has repeatedly spoken of his desire to ensure freedom of speech and who describes Jones as a friend. For her part, Jones was stoic—and good-humored—about the whole thing. "My dentist is in Singapore," she said, "and I needed to see him."