Briton accuses Indonesian captors

Lesley McCulloch was arrested two weeks ago

A Scottish woman arrested in a remote part of Indonesia has said she was threatened, sexually harassed and prevented from talking to British Embassy staff.

Lesley McCulloch, from Dunoon in Argyll, and American nurse Joy Lee Sadler, have been held since 11 September over the alleged misuse of tourist visas.

They were detained in the remote northern province of Aceh, where rebels are fighting for independence from Indonesia.

The Foreign Office said it had experienced problems trying to contact Ms McCulloch since her arrest.

The Indonesian police have assured us that allegations of maltreatment have been noted and will be investigated

Foreign Office spokesperson

There have been warnings they may be tried for supporting the Free Aceh Movement.

Ms McCulloch, in her first broadcast interview since the arrest, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that she was innocent.

More than 1,200 people are said to have died during more than 10 years of conflict between the Indonesian authorities and the Free Aceh rebels.

The authorities said Ms McCulloch, who has been doing research at the University of Tasmania, had propaganda material for the rebels and carried only tourist visas.

But Ms McCulloch said the authorities do not like the academic work she has done on the area.

'Very frightening'

She said: "The Indonesian Government and the military and police in particular are very unhappy with some of the academic work that I have produced.

"And on that basis they have been trying very hard to find evidence of something else.

"My legal team told me today that there was in fact no evidence."

Speaking on a phone belonging to her legal team, she accused those who arrested them of threats and violence.

She said: "Joy was beaten quite badly and I was hit quite severely and also one army officer threatened to kill me if he held a knife at my throat.

"I suffered sexual harassment. It was quite heavy sexual advances by one particular police officer in a truck, and Joy was witness to this.

"I have the policeman's name and I have requested that I am allowed to make an official complaint about that and the army mistreatment."

The experience was "very frightening", she said.

"We had no idea that people knew where we were," she said.

Ms McCulloch said she was confident there was no evidence of espionage against her and she was now being well treated.

It could take some time - but she pledged she would be back in Dunoon to spend time with her family as soon as she is released.

'Masses of support'

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: "The Embassy has expressed its concerns to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the Indonesian police about problems in contacting Ms McCulloch following her detention.

"The Indonesian police have assured us that allegations of maltreatment have also been noted and will be investigated.

"Our Ambassador in Jakarta telephoned the Head of Police on 14 September and our Consul General called on the Head of Criminal Intelligence at the National Police on the morning of 18 September to raise these concerns."

Ms McCulloch's mother Mattie said she felt her daughter had not received sufficient support from British authorities.

She said: "But there has been masses of support in Australia and even in America, and lots of her friends in Europe.