A second soldier charged over Liquisa

A second soldier charged over Liquisa

JAKARTA (JP): A military tribunal in Denpasar, Bali, charged a
soldier on Saturday with unlawfully killing six people in
Liquisa, East Timor, on Jan. 12, 1995.

First Class Private Rusdin Maubere is the second soldier to be
charged in connection with the Liquisa incident, in which six
people died.

The trial of the first soldier, First. Lt. Jermias Kasse,
began in the same court on Friday. He is charged with disobeying
an order from Liquisa military chief Lt. Col. Tris Suryawan not
to shoot unarmed rebels.

Prosecutors said that both Kasse, who led the infamous
military operation, and Rusdin had been unable to control their
emotions after witnessing the wounding of a fellow soldier in an
earlier clash with rebels.

Prosecutor Lt. Col. Firman AR Coto alleged that Rusdin opened
fire on and killed six unarmed prisoners even though the 30-
member detachment had been ordered to shoot only at armed rebels.

The incident, which sparked outrage both here and overseas,
took place while the soldiers were patrolling an area which was,
reportedly, a stronghold of separatist Fretilin rebels.

International protests prompted both the Indonesian Armed
Forces and the National Commission on Human Rights to carry out
investigations into the killings.

Prosecutor Firman said that the defendant intentionally
violated the verbal order of the Liquisa military chief, thereby
breaching the Military Criminal Code.

He said that Tris had ordered the patrol team not to shoot
suspected rebels if they were unarmed, but to arrest them. The
opening session of Kasse's trial was attended by regional
military chief Maj. Gen. Adang Ruchiatna

The trial resumes today, when the defense is scheduled to
answer the prosecution case.

The defendant was represented on Saturday by lawyers Major
Ketut Lastra and Captain Wirawati, Antara reported. (rms)