Abilio to seek justice abroad

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Former East Timor governor Abilio Jose Osario Soares has said he would seek international help to annul his conviction over the 1999 carnage ahead of East Timor's breakaway from Indonesia.

"I will seek justice abroad because my own country has not given me any. I have been made the scapegoat and made to take the blame for the riots in East Timor," he told journalists on Saturday.

Abilio said those who should have been convicted of gross human rights abuses were the former military leaders overseeing security in East Timor, Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman and Col. M. Noer Muis, as well as ex-police chief Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen.

Abilio, who received a 10-year prison sentence, said he would bring his case to the International Court of Justice and the United Nations. --JP