Attorney general to name suspects in E. Timor case<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on
\nSaturday that 30 people will be named as suspects in connection
\nwith last year's East Timor mayhem.<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office will announce the suspects next
\nweek. The announcement was originally scheduled for Aug. 23, but
\nwas deferred following an amendment to the 1945 Constitution
\nwhich provides protection against retroactive charges.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists after attending the first meeting of
\nthe new Cabinet, Marzuki said that soon after the announcement of
\nthe suspects, their dossiers would be submitted to the court for
\nfurther legal processing.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said some high-ranking officials would be among the
\nsuspects, but refused to speculate on whether the list included
\nGen. (ret). Wiranto, the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief when
\nEast Timor was engulfed in violence.<\/p>\n
\"I have received the report from the East Timor investigation
\nteam and, yes, there will be 30 suspects announced next week.
\nSome of them are high-ranking officials,\" Marzuki told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
When pressed further about the possibility of Wiranto being
\nnamed a suspect, Marzuki said: \"I cannot tell you right now
\nabout the names, it would be inappropriate, but there are some
\nhigh-ranking military officers.\"<\/p>\n
The state-sanctioned investigation team has questioned
\nWiranto, former chief of the Wirabuana Military Command which
\noversaw East Timor, Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, and Brig. Gen. Tono
\nSuratman and Brig.Gen. Timbul Silaen, respectively the former
\nEast Timor military commander and police chief, and several other
\nmilitary officers over the violence and destruction that followed
\nthe self-determination ballot on Aug. 30 last year.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has come under international criticism for
\npostponing the release of the suspects' names.<\/p>\n
The amendment of Article 28I of the constitution protects
\nanyone from being prosecuted retroactively under newly enacted
\nlaws, and it is thought that this could protect human rights
\nabusers in East Timor from being brought to trial.<\/p>\n
Indonesia as yet does not have adequate laws to try gross
\nviolations of human rights, as the Criminal Code does not
\nrecognize crimes against humanity and the concept of collective
\nresponsibility.<\/p>\n
United Nations officials have stated that the recent
\nconstitutional amendment might force them to hold an
\ninternational inquiry, or even establish an international
\ntribunal, to handle the East Timor case.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said that his office has prepared good legal grounds
\nfor an exemption to Article 28I so that the case can be properly
\nprosecuted.<\/p>\n
\"We will stick to Government Regulation in Lieu of a Law No.1
\non Human Rights as the legal basis for charging the suspects. I
\ncannot give further details of our grounds as that would only
\nspark a polemic among the members of the public,\" Marzuki said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, following the attack on three UN humanitarian
\nworkers in West Timor, the Army Strategic Reserves Command
\n(Kostrad) deployed a mobile brigade (Brimob) force to protect
\ninternational relief workers.<\/p>\n
The force is made up of officers drawn from the 502nd
\nBattalion which is serving on the border with East Timor.<\/p>\n
Following the attack, the UN High Commission for Refugees
\nsuspended humanitarian aid for East Timorese refugees in West
\nTimor. (dja\/prb)<\/p>",
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