Abilio acquitted of rights crime
Abilio acquitted of rights crime
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.