Abilio first to serve jail time for 1999 East Timor mayhem<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Former East Timor governor Abilio Soares began serving on
\nSaturday a three-year prison term for his role in the 1999
\nviolence in the former Indonesian province, becoming the first
\nperson to be jailed for the bloodshed.<\/p>\n
Abilio arrived in Jakarta on Saturday afternoon from his home
\nin Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, and was taken from Soekarno-Hatta
\nAirport to Cipinang Prison to begin serving his sentence.
\nEarlier, the former governor said he would rather be shot dead
\nthan sent to prison.<\/p>\n
He had defied a summons to begin serving his sentence on
\nFriday, saying he was seeking a Supreme Court review of his
\nconviction.<\/p>\n
A group of prosecutors and Abilio's lawyers were at the
\nairport waiting for the former governor, who was accompanied from
\nKupang by the head of the East Nusa Tenggara Prosecutor's Office,
\nBachtiar Robin Pangaribuan.<\/p>\n
Abilio was transferred to Cipinang Prison in a Nissan sedan
\ninstead of the standard vehicle normally used to transport
\nconvicts.<\/p>\n
\"There was no backroom deal. I just found out that the AGO
\nrejected my request to delay the execution of my sentence,\"
\nAbilio said before leaving Kupang for Jakarta, referring to the
\nAttorney General's Office.<\/p>\n
The office's spokesman, Kemas Yahya Rahman, said on Saturday
\nthat Abilio would have been taken to prison by force if
\nnecessary.<\/p>\n
However, Pangaribuan was able to convince Abilio to come to
\nJakarta voluntarily, Kemas said.<\/p>\n
In Kupang, dozens of supporters accompanied Abilio to the
\nairport, warning Pangaribuan not to return to the city without
\nAbilio.<\/p>\n
The former governor was able to calm his supporters after some
\nof them began smashing windows at the airport.<\/p>\n
In Cipinang, Abilio will be a neighbor of big-time corruptors
\nsuch as Beddu Amang, Pande Lubis, Winfred Simatupang and Dadang
\nSukandar in Block H of the prison, warden Giharto said.<\/p>\n
Inmates in Block H get their own cells, unlike in other blocks
\nwhere dozens of prisoners often find themselves sharing a cell.
\nBut Giharto insisted that Abilio would not receive any special
\ntreatment.<\/p>\n
Abilio had sent a letter asking prosecutors to postpone the
\nexecution of his sentence while he filed a review of his
\nconviction with the Supreme Court, which had already dismissed
\nhis appeal.<\/p>\n
A Supreme Court decision is a legally binding verdict that
\nmust be followed up immediately by prosecutors. Any other legal
\nmeasures taken by convicts must not stop the execution of their
\nsentence. The exception is for convicts on death row. Under the
\nlaw, their execution must be delayed if they seek a review from
\nthe Supreme Court or clemency from the president.<\/p>\n
Abilio reiterated his belief that he was a scapegoat for the
\nbloodshed in East Timor when the territory voted for independence
\nin 1999, saying the former military and police chiefs there
\nshould be held responsible for the violence.<\/p>\n
He said that as a civilian governor, and with East Timor under
\nmartial law at the time, he did not control the security forces
\nduring the carnage blamed on military-backed militias.<\/p>\n
Abilio was sentenced to three years in prison by an ad hoc
\nhuman rights tribunal in 2002 for failing to control his
\nsubordinates during an attack on a Liquisa church that left 22
\ncivilians dead.<\/p>\n
Three Army officers, a former Dili Police chief and a militia
\nmember were all sentenced by the rights tribunal to a year in
\nprison but all five remain free pending their appeals.<\/p>\n
Eleven military members and one civilian were acquitted by the
\ntribunal, which many observers say failed to deliver justice
\naccording to international law.<\/p>",
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