Moeis gets five years in jail but remains free<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The ad hoc rights tribunal sentenced former East Timor military
\ncommander Brig. Gen. Noer Moeis to five years in jail on
\nWednesday for gross human rights violations in the territory in
\n1999, but, as usual, fell short of sending the officer to jail
\nimmediately.<\/p>\n
Moeis, one of the 18 military and police personnel, as well as
\ncivilians, brought before the court over a bloody reign of terror
\nbefore, during, and after the United Nations-sponsored referendum
\nin East Timor in 1999, appealed the verdict.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Adriani Nurdin told the ad hoc rights tribunal
\non Wednesday that Moeis failed to prevent attacks on the Dili
\ndiocesan offices on Sept. 5, 1999, and the residence of Dili
\nbishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Bello the following day. At least 13
\npeople were killed in the two incidents.<\/p>\n
The court also ruled that Moeis, who was a colonel at the
\ntime, was guilty of failing to prevent an attack on a church in
\nSuai on Sept. 6 in which 26 people were killed.<\/p>\n
\"As the military commander, the defendant failed to prevent
\nhis subordinates from allowing such incidents to happen, with the
\nresult that crimes against humanity occurred,\" said Adriani,
\nreading out the verdict.<\/p>\n
Moeis is the highest ranking military officer to be sentenced
\nto jail so far for the rampage that destroyed almost 90 percent
\nof the infrastructure in Indonesia's former 27th province, and
\ndrove almost 250,000 East Timorese into refugee camps in
\nIndonesia's West Timor.<\/p>\n
The two other military officers convicted so far are Lt. Col.
\nSoedjarwo, the former Dili military chief, and Adj. Sr. Comr.
\nHulman Gultom, the former Dili police chief, who received five
\nand three years in jail respectively.<\/p>\n
Two civilians have also been convicted by the ad hoc tribunal.
\nThey are the former East Timor governor Abilio Soares, who got a
\nthree-year jail sentence, and notorious militia leader Eurico
\nGuterres, who received 10 years in jail.<\/p>\n
Ten other police and military officers were earlier acquitted
\nin widely criticized verdicts.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors had demanded a 10-year jail term for Moeis -- the
\nminimum sentence under Indonesia's human rights law -- for the
\noffense, which carries a maximum penalty of death.<\/p>\n
\"We must prioritize justice. Ten years is not in line with the
\nsense of justice of the judges,\" Adriani said.<\/p>\n
Moeis, who looked calm during the trial, complained that the
\nverdict was not in line with the testimony given by witnesses
\nduring the trial.<\/p>\n
\"I reject the verdict and since I have the right, I will
\nappeal,\" said Moeis, who is now the deputy head of the national
\nmilitary academy.<\/p>\n
The human rights tribunal is still hearing two other cases,
\nthe prosecutions against another former East Timor military
\ncommander, Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman, and Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri,
\nthe former chief Bali-based Udayana military command overseeing
\nBali, Nusa Tenggara and East Timor.<\/p>\n
The United Nations estimated that some 1,000 people were
\nkilled in the run-up to, during and after the UN-sponsored
\nindependence vote in East Timor in 1999, in which the majority of
\nEast Timorese voted to secede from Indonesia after the territory
\nhad been occupied by its giant neighbor for more than two
\ndecades.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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