Unexpected three year jail sentence for Damiri<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Despite a prosecution request for the acquittal of Maj. Gen.
\nAdam Damiri, the ad hoc human rights tribunal decided on Tuesday
\nto slap a three-year jail term on the military bigwig for his
\ninvolvement in the 1999 mayhem in East Timor.<\/p>\n
\"The court finds the defendant guilty of having committed
\ngross human rights violations in East Timor,\" Presiding Judge
\nMarni Emmy Mustafa told a packed courtroom on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Damiri's lawyers and supporters, who had packed the courtroom,
\nwere stunned as the judges had been widely expected to acquit him
\nafter prosecutors had recommended that all charges be dropped due
\nto \"lack of evidence\".<\/p>\n
One of them branded the government as \"the devil\", while
\nDamiri's lawyers openly castigated the judges. The situation was
\nbrought under control, however, after Damiri, who had initially
\nlost his composure and started shouting, finally calmed down and
\nasked his supporters to do the same.<\/p>\n
\"I respect the court's ruling but I feel very disappointed
\nwith this decision. It will not only affect my family and my
\nsoldiers, but also the Indonesian Military (TNI) as an
\ninstitution,\" said Damiri, who was the most senior soldier to
\nhave been tried for human rights violations in East Timor.<\/p>\n
He asserted that he would appeal the verdict, which came on
\nthe same day as a powerful car bomb went off at Jakarta's J.W.
\nMarriott Hotel, killing at least 15 people and injuring 100.<\/p>\n
As with most senior Indonesian state officials who have been
\nconvicted of serious criminal offenses, Damiri will remain at
\nliberty pending his appeal.<\/p>\n
According to the verdict, Damiri, who was in charge of the
\nUdayana Military Command overseeing East Timor, was guilty of a
\ndereliction of duty in failing to prevent his subordinates from
\nattacking, and permitting pro-integration militias to attack,
\npro-independence East Timorese who took refuge in houses and
\nchurches in Liquica, Dili and Tovalima between April and
\nSeptember 1999.<\/p>\n
Responding to the request by the prosecution that Damiri be
\nacquitted, the panel of five judges ruled that the request was
\n\"discriminatory and unfair to the other defendants in the East
\nTimor cases.\"<\/p>\n
The panel of judges, made up of Emmy, Rocky Panjaitan,
\nKomariah Emong Sapardjaja, Rudy M. Rizky and Sulaiman Hamid, also
\nsaid that the recommendation was based on \"inaccurate and
\ninconsistent\" grounds.<\/p>\n
The judges noted that the mayhem before and after the ballot
\nin East Timor in 1999 had cost innocent lives, caused massive
\ndamage to property and severely damaged Indonesia's image and
\nstanding on the international stage.<\/p>\n
According to rights activists, some 1,000 people in East Timor
\ndied prior to and after the 1999 referendum, which resulted in a
\nmassive vote in favor of independence from Indonesia, which had
\nannexed the territory in 1976.<\/p>\n
In their verdict, the judges stated that \"we cannot blame
\nthose who believe the accusations that the state initiated the
\nmayhem as we can see that there was a repeated pattern of attacks
\nthat claimed the lives of East Timorese victims.\"<\/p>\n
They also said the facts revealed the involvement of the
\nNational Police and TNI in the violence in East Timor as they
\nwere the elements of the government that were responsible for
\nsecurity in the former province. Thus, they could not wash their
\nhands of the violence that occurred.<\/p>\n
Upon hearing the verdict, Damiri, who is currently the
\noperations assistant to the TNI chief of general affairs, became
\nhysterical, and started shouting and waving his arms in protest
\nagainst the verdict.<\/p>\n
The Damiri conviction brings to a conclusion a series of
\ntrials involving 18 civilian and military leaders in the former
\nEast Timor province over their roles in the 1999 mayhem.<\/p>\n
Six of the defendants have been found guilty, but the light
\nsentences handed down have contributed to a widespread perception
\nthat the entire process was little more than a whitewash designed
\nto preempt the setting up of an international human rights
\ntribunal along the lines of that hearing rights cases from the
\nformer Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n
The toughest sentence of 10 years in prison was handed down to
\na Timorese civilian who led a pro-integration militia, despite
\nthe fact that many are convinced he was incapable of acting
\nwithout state support.<\/p>",
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