Human rights court acquits 4 defendants<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After sentencing former pro-Jakarta militia commander Eurico
\nGuterres to 10 years in prison on Wednesday, a human rights court
\nacquitted on Friday four defendants charged with crimes against
\nhumanity in East Timor in 1999.<\/p>\n
The acquittal of two military officers, one police officer and
\none civilian brought the number of defendants cleared by the ad
\nhoc human rights court to 10 of the 18 people charged with crimes
\nagainst humanity in East Timor.<\/p>\n
The only defendants found guilty so far are two ethnic East
\nTimorese civilians, who say they have been made scapegoats. Six
\ndefendants, including two generals, are still awaiting verdicts.<\/p>\n
The verdicts on Friday quickly drew criticism from human
\nrights activists and legal experts, who said the court was
\ndeliberately sparing military and police officers from jail.<\/p>\n
Former Dili military commander Lt. Col. Endar Priyanto was
\nacquitted of charges of having allowed soldiers under his command
\nto murder and torture people in the house of proindependence
\nleader Manuel Vegas Carascalao on April 17, 1999.<\/p>\n
At least 12 people were killed in the attack, believed to have
\nbeen carried out by the Eurico Guterres-led militia Aitarak and
\nthe Red-White Iron militia, with assistance from the military.<\/p>\n
\"The defendant's subordinates did not take part in the attack,
\nthus he cannot be held responsible,\" presiding judge Amril said
\nwhen acquitting Endar.<\/p>\n
The judge said that even if several military soldiers were
\ninvolved in the attack, as they were not Endar's direct
\nsubordinates Endar could not be held responsible for their
\nactions.<\/p>\n
A crime against humanity carries a maximum sentence of death.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor K. Lere, who demanded a 10-year jail sentence for
\nEndar, said he would consider whether or not to file an appeal
\nwith the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
But he disagreed with the judges who said that Endar could not
\nbe held responsible even if there were military soldiers involved
\nin the attack.<\/p>\n
\"Although the officers might not have been Endar's
\nsubordinates, Endar must have known of their presence in the
\nattack, which occurred in his territory. Thus, he must be
\nresponsible for that,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The acquittal of Endar was in contrast to the sentencing of
\nEurico to 10 years in jail on similar charges.<\/p>\n
In another session, former Liquica Military commander Lt. Col.
\nAsep Kuswani, former Liquica Resort Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr.
\nAdios Salova and former Liquica regent Leonito Martins were
\nacquitted on charges of allowing their subordinates to kill and
\ntorture refugee at the Ave Maria Church in Liquica on April 6,
\n1999.<\/p>\n
\"There was an attack by a pro-Jakarta militia, namely Red-
\nWhite Iron, using traditional weapons such as swords and arrows
\nand led by Manuel Sosa, on the refugee-packed Ave Maria Church.<\/p>\n
\"But the militia had no command line, no structural link with
\nthe three defendants, thus the three must be acquitted on all
\ncharges,\" presiding judge Cicut Sutiarso said.<\/p>\n
Five people were killed and at least 20 others injured in the
\nattack.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Pieters J. Silalahi, who had asked that the
\ndefendants be sentenced to 10 years in jail, said he had 14 days
\nto decide whether or not to appeal the verdicts to the Supreme
\nCourt.<\/p>\n
Separately, Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human
\nRights Association and legal expert Rudy Satrio of the University
\nof Indonesia said the ad hoc court was protecting military and
\npolice officers from legal action.<\/p>\n
\"Given the trend, I'm sure that all military soldiers, from
\nlow to high-ranking officers, will be acquitted of all human
\nrights abuse charges,\" Hendardi said.<\/p>\n
The court is also taking advantage of the slackening in
\ninternational pressure that human rights abusers in East Timor be
\npunished, distracted as the world is by the war on terrorism, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Rudy said civilians in East Timor should not be scapegoated
\nfor the 1999 violence, and military and police officers should
\nalso be held responsible as they failed to prevent the chaos.<\/p>\n
He said he hoped the Supreme Court would uphold justice rather
\nthan simply protecting military officers.<\/p>\n
Violence broke out before, during and after a UN-sponsored the
\nreferendum in East Timor in August 1999.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/human-rights-court-acquits-4-defendants-1447893297",
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