TNI formed East Timor militias: Eyewitness<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After two months of hearings by the East Timor ad hoc human
\nrights trial, held in the absence of eyewitnesses from East
\nTimor, an East Timorese finally took the stand on Wednesday to
\ntestify about the military's support for pro-Jakarta militia
\ngroups at the time.<\/p>\n
Testifying against former Liquica officials being tried for an
\nattack on a church on April 6, 1999, Antonio da Concesau Santos
\ntold the court that he saw militia groups gather in the Liquica
\nmilitary subdistrict headquarters before the assault was
\nlaunched.<\/p>\n
The church, he said, was sheltering more than 1,500
\nproindependence supporters after their pro-Jakarta rivals forced
\nthem from their homes and onto the streets.<\/p>\n
Now a police officer in East Timor, Antonio was a clerk to the
\nLiquica Church besides being a member of the National Police at
\nthe time of question. The church's priest, Rafael dos Santos, is
\nhis uncle.<\/p>\n
\"The Besi Merah Putih (BMP) militia was established by the
\nArmed Forces (former name of the Indonesian Military\/TNI)... I
\nsaw it myself... I saw them gathering in the military command
\nheadquarters before attacking the church.\"<\/p>\n
The church is located near the military compound.<\/p>\n
Antonio said he saw soldiers \"holding M-15 rifles standing
\naround the church compound during the attack\", but he failed to
\nclearly specify whether they participated in the attack, which
\nresulting in the deaths of 22 people.<\/p>\n
\"The attack was launched by East Timorese,\" he said, adding
\nthat the Mahidi and Halilintar militias joined the BMP in the
\nattack.<\/p>\n
Reportedly, at least 30 people were killed during the attack,
\nmostly women and children, and their bodies thrown into the sea
\nand a lake.<\/p>\n
The defendants --former Liquica military commander Lt. Col.
\nAsep Kuswani, former police chief Lt. Col. Adios Salova, and
\nformer regent Leonito Martins-- rejected Antonio's testimony.<\/p>\n
The three are charged with failure to prevent human rights
\nabuses and to bring the perpetrators to justice.<\/p>\n
Antonio arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday along with Timor Leste
\nAttorney General Longhinus Monteiro, who was here to meet his
\nIndonesian counterpart M.A. Rachman at the latter's office.<\/p>\n
The two agreed to renew the Memorandum of Understanding to
\nensure that the difficulties in producing witnesses would not
\nobstruct the trial of alleged human rights attrocities in East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
\"Attorney General M.A. Rachman accepted my proposal to set up
\na video link should the witnesses refuse to come to Jakarta due
\nto fears for their personal security. For those who are willing
\nto come, we'll do our best to get them here,\" Monteiro said.<\/p>\n
In separate hearings, human rights ad hoc prosecutors are to
\nsummon victims Manuel Viegas Carrascalao and his daughter Maria
\nChristina Carrascalao to testify against former Dili Police chief
\nAdj. Sr. Comr. Hulman Gultom.<\/p>\n
The first hearing in the case against former East Timor
\nmilitary command chief Brig. Gen. Noer Muis was delayed until
\nnext week because the defendant was attending the burial of his
\nfather in Aceh.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tni-formed-east-timor-militias-eyewitness-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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