Attorney general to name suspects in E. Timor case

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)