Abilio acquitted after case review

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Supreme Court acquited former East Timor governor Abilio Soares following a case review on Thursday.

Abilio, who was charged with involvement in the 1999 atrocities in East Timor, had served less than four months of his three-year prison term.

The court's head of criminal cases, Zarof Rikard, said that a panel of three justices had approved the case review filed by Abilio. The panel was chaired by Justice Iskandar Kamil.

Zarof, however, did not disclose the legal arguments for Abilio's acquittal except that the verdict was highlighted with a dissenting opinion from Justice Artidjo Alkostar, who rejected the case.

Abilio, an East Timor native, was the first person to be jailed in connection with atrocities in the former Indonesian province after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal.

He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2002 for failing to control his subordinates during an attack on a Liquisa church that left 22 civilians dead. He started serving his prison term in July this year.

Observers say the tribunal on East Timor had failed to deliver justice based on international law following the acquittal of 11 military members and one civilian.

Three Army officials, a former Dili Police chief and a militia member are waiting for the result of their appeals to the higher courts after they were all convicted.

Abilio, who moved to Kupang after the separation of East Timor from Indonesia, maintained his stance that he was a scapegoat for the bloodshed in East Timor when the territory voted for independence in 1999, saying former military and police chiefs there should be held responsible for the violence.

He said that as a civilian governor, and with East Timor under martial law at the time, he did not control the security forces during the carnage, blamed on military-backed militias.

Abilio and his lawyers have also filed for a judicial review to the Constitutional Court over the retroactive principle on the human rights tribunal.

The case is currently being heard by the Constitutional Court. It is not clear whether Abilio will withdraw the case following his acquittal.