Attorney general to name suspects in E. Timor case
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Saturday that 30 people will be named as suspects in connection with last year's East Timor mayhem.
The Attorney General's Office will announce the suspects next week. The announcement was originally scheduled for Aug. 23, but was deferred following an amendment to the 1945 Constitution which provides protection against retroactive charges.
Speaking to journalists after attending the first meeting of the new Cabinet, Marzuki said that soon after the announcement of the suspects, their dossiers would be submitted to the court for further legal processing.
Marzuki said some high-ranking officials would be among the suspects, but refused to speculate on whether the list included Gen. (ret). Wiranto, the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief when East Timor was engulfed in violence.
"I have received the report from the East Timor investigation team and, yes, there will be 30 suspects announced next week. Some of them are high-ranking officials," Marzuki told The Jakarta Post.
When pressed further about the possibility of Wiranto being named a suspect, Marzuki said: "I cannot tell you right now about the names, it would be inappropriate, but there are some high-ranking military officers."
The state-sanctioned investigation team has questioned Wiranto, former chief of the Wirabuana Military Command which oversaw East Timor, Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, and Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman and Brig.Gen. Timbul Silaen, respectively the former East Timor military commander and police chief, and several other military officers over the violence and destruction that followed the self-determination ballot on Aug. 30 last year.
Indonesia has come under international criticism for postponing the release of the suspects' names.
The amendment of Article 28I of the constitution protects anyone from being prosecuted retroactively under newly enacted laws, and it is thought that this could protect human rights abusers in East Timor from being brought to trial.
Indonesia as yet does not have adequate laws to try gross violations of human rights, as the Criminal Code does not recognize crimes against humanity and the concept of collective responsibility.
United Nations officials have stated that the recent constitutional amendment might force them to hold an international inquiry, or even establish an international tribunal, to handle the East Timor case.
Marzuki said that his office has prepared good legal grounds for an exemption to Article 28I so that the case can be properly prosecuted.
"We will stick to Government Regulation in Lieu of a Law No.1 on Human Rights as the legal basis for charging the suspects. I cannot give further details of our grounds as that would only spark a polemic among the members of the public," Marzuki said.
Meanwhile, following the attack on three UN humanitarian workers in West Timor, the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) deployed a mobile brigade (Brimob) force to protect international relief workers.
The force is made up of officers drawn from the 502nd Battalion which is serving on the border with East Timor.
Following the attack, the UN High Commission for Refugees suspended humanitarian aid for East Timorese refugees in West Timor. (dja/prb)