Abilio gets three years in jail for rights violations<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Former East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares has been
\njailed for three years after Indonesia's landmark human rights
\ntribunal found him guilty of human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
The sentence, well below the near eleven-year sentence
\ndemanded by state prosecutors, sparked immediate criticism from
\nhuman rights groups and Abilio himself.<\/p>\n
Abilio is the first of 18 senior officials, who mainly
\ncomprise military officers, including three Army generals, to be
\nsentenced for the bloody violence before, during, and after the
\nUnited Nations-sponsored referendum in East Timor in 1999.<\/p>\n
The judges, presided over by Judge Marni Emmy Mustafa, found
\nAbilio guilty of the primary charge against him: Failure to
\nprevent and halt violence involving his subordinates.<\/p>\n
Abilio immediately rejected the verdict, saying he would
\nappeal.<\/p>\n
\"I'm not guilty. I have been made a scapegoat. The government
\nmust be responsible for the mess in East Timor in 1999,\" Abilio
\ntold reporters.<\/p>\n
Hendardi, a lawyer with the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human
\nRights Association, slammed the verdict, saying justice had not
\nbeen served for the East Timorese victims who suffered arbitrary
\ntorture and death.<\/p>\n
\"The judges are contemptuous of the law by issuing such a
\nlight sentence,\" Hendardi told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Hendardi warned that the culprits of human rights abuses in
\nEast Timor may be brought to the International Court of Justice
\nif the on-going rights trial failed to bring justice.<\/p>\n
\"We are facing an international tribunal now as the verdict
\nfailed to meet international standards,\" Hendardi said.<\/p>\n
\"The sentence is minimal ... much too light,\" Albert Hasibuan
\nof the National Commission on Human Rights told AFP Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Noted Indonesian rights lawyer, Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara,
\nquestioned the reasoning behind the verdict.<\/p>\n
\"If the judges deem that the prosecutors have been unable to
\nsubstantiate their charges, then the defendant should have been
\nfound not guilty, but if he is guilty of gross human rights
\nviolations, the punishment should not be a mere three years,\"
\nNusantara said.<\/p>\n
As if anticipating public criticism over the light sentence,
\nMarni said the judges were not acting as the voice of law No.
\n26\/2000 on Human Rights Courts but of justice.<\/p>\n
\"We issued the sentence based on justice, not on revenge.
\nBesides, a letter from East Timor President Xanana Gusmao implies
\na reconciliation among fighting groups in East Timor,\" Marni
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Xanana sent a letter earlier to the panel of judges, subtly
\nurging them not to hold Abilio responsible for the violence.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/abilio-gets-three-years-in-jail-for-rights-violations-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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