39 East Timorese to stand trial

39 East Timorese to stand trial

DILI, East Timor: At least 39 people will be brought to trial soon for rioting in Baucau and staging an anti-government demonstration here this month, a police source said Saturday.

A source from Dili's police department, who requested anonymity, told The Jakarta Post that although 15 people in Baucau and 24 in Dili have been detained, the authorities are still in search of protesters from both incidents.

The incident in Baucau, 180 kilometers east of Dili, took place on New Year's Eve, when an angry mob burned down 95 shops and kiosks. The rioting was sparked by the murder of a local East Timorese youth by a South Sulawesi migrant, who later died from injuries sustained earlier, according to the official account.

The 24 people to be charged in Dili's district court were arrested during a pro-independence demonstration at East Timor University on Jan. 9. The protest, involving more than 30 people, coincided with the Indonesia-Portugal talks in Geneva on the East Timor issue.

During the protests, security officials also seized banners bearing pro-independence messages.

East Timor police chief Andreas Sugianto spoke to Antara saying that most of those detained were not students and were jobless people that "can be provoked easily by anti-integration individuals".

He said his office will not tolerate anyone, including foreigners, engaged in disruptive practices in East Timor, the territory that integrated with Indonesia in 1976.

The authorities expelled three Australians and one Dutch person found on the scene of last week's demonstration.(yac/pwn)