Wiranto ready to face music over East Timor mayhem<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen.
\n(ret) Wiranto said that he was ready to accept punishment should
\nhe be proven guilty of involvement in human rights abuses around
\nthe time of the self-determination ballot in East Timor in 1999.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists after meeting President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri on Monday, Wiranto said that he hoped the upcoming
\nad hoc tribunal on human rights violations would meet the
\nrequirements of justice, and not just politics.<\/p>\n
\"If the court decides that we are guilty, we are ready to face
\npunishment for any of our mistakes. But if we are found innocent
\nplease do not hesitate to publicize that,\" he said at a press
\nbriefing.<\/p>\n
He further underlined that he himself, along with his fellow
\nTNI officers implicated in the East Timor issue, would face the
\ntribunal with an attitude of legowo (Javanese term for
\nopenheartedness) and would not hamper any efforts by the
\ngovernment to thoroughly investigate the case.<\/p>\n
\"I hope the government will deal with the whole case honestly
\nand transparently. It would be very unfair on us if public
\nopinion affected the legal process in the case,\" Wiranto said,
\nreferring to accusations that the military masterminded the
\nballot-linked mayhem.<\/p>\n
The new government has revised the presidential decree on ad
\nhoc tribunals by specifically stating that the tribunal should
\nhandle human rights violations in East Timor in April 1999 and
\nSeptember 1999, and the rights abuses that occurred during the
\nTanjung Priok shooting spree in September 1984.<\/p>\n
Many rights violations in East Timor were reported both before
\nand after the ballot, including the April 17 attack on
\nproindependence leader Manuel Carrascalao's house in Dili in
\nwhich 12 people died. At least 26 people were killed in a
\nSeptember massacre of refugees in a church in Suai.<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office had prepared 12 dossiers on 18
\nsuspects involving four incidents of alleged human rights' abuses
\nthat occurred before and after the Aug. 30 ballot. So far,
\nWiranto has not been named as being among the 18 suspects,
\nalthough an investigation by the National Commission on Human
\nRights (Komnas HAM) stated that he was among the officials
\nresponsible for the rights abuses.<\/p>\n
\"I just hope that there will be no manipulation of this case
\n... because I know it will be very difficult for the Attorney General's
\nOffice to find evidence of something that never happened,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"I know what really happened there and it was not as horrible
\nas they said it was. There have been many unfounded accusations.\"
\n(dja)<\/p>",
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