E. Timor militiaman gets 12 years<\/p>\n
DILI (AP): In the first successful prosecution for the
\ndestruction of East Timor in 1999, an international court
\nsentenced a pro-Indonesian militiaman to 12 years in prison for
\nmurder.<\/p>\n
Joao Fernandes, a member of the Merah Putih (Red and White)
\nmilitia gang, was found guilty of killing a pro-independence
\nactivist in the town of Maliana, close to the border with
\nIndonesian-held West Timor, on Sept. 8, 1999.<\/p>\n
\"This judgment should be enforced immediately,\" said presiding
\njudge Luca Ferrero. The Italian justice presided over a three-man
\npanel of judges at the Dili District Court.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people died and most of East Timor was destroyed
\nwhen the Indonesian army and its local auxiliaries went on a
\nrampage after voters decided to break away from Indonesia in a
\nUN-sponsored independence referendum in Aug. 1999.<\/p>\n
Some 250,000 East Timorese were forced from their homes and
\nmany fled to West Timor. Tens of thousands are still waiting for
\nrepatriation to East Timor. Most militiamen also fled with the
\nretreating Indonesian troops.<\/p>\n
The United Nations is administering East Timor during its
\ntransition to full independence, expected next year. About 70
\nother militiamen implicated in the violence are in detention in
\nEast Timor waiting for their trials to start.<\/p>\n
Fernandes, 22, testified during his trial that Indonesian army
\nofficers had given him a samurai sword and ordered him to kill
\nindependence supporters.<\/p>\n
He pleaded guilty to stabbing village chief Domingos Pereira
\nwho had been hiding in the Maliana police station. Over 40 people
\nwere killed in the massacre, according to UN investigators.<\/p>\n
Outside the courtroom, members of the victim's family said
\nthey were not satisfied with the sentence. \"We wanted him to get
\nthe maximum 28 years because of how much we have suffered,\" said
\nIsabella Pereira. She said she had witnessed the kidnapping of
\nher father before his death.<\/p>\n
American prosecutor Brenda Sue Thornton, one of several
\nforeign lawyers working in the newly established court, said the
\nsentence corresponded to those handed down by war crimes
\ntribunals in Rwanda and Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n
\"The sentence reflected the fact that the defendant has agreed
\nto cooperate on other cases in the future,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Indonesia continues to drag its feet on promises to
\nbring to justice militiamen and others implicated in the violence
\nwho are now on its soil.<\/p>\n
Indonesian prosecutors have named 23 suspects, including
\nseveral senior army officers, in connection with the events of
\n1999. But none of them has been charged.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres is
\nstanding trial on unrelated weapons charges allegedly committed
\nin West Timor last year.<\/p>\n
Six militiamen are currently on trial in Jakarta charged with
\nthe murders of the three UN aid workers in West Timor last
\nSeptember.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/e-timor-militiaman-gets-12-years-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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