Central Jakarta district court to proceed with Bere's trial

Central Jakarta district court to proceed with Bere's trial

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Central Jakarta District Court decided on Tuesday to proceed
with the trial of an East Timorese militiaman charged with the
murder of a New Zealand peacekeeper in East Timor last year.

The panel of judges rejected arguments from lawyers
representing defendant Yacobus Bere that the court did not have
the jurisdiction to try the case because the crime had occurred
in East Timor, and was therefore not subject to Indonesian law.

Bere, 37, was charged with the murder of Pvt. William Leonard
Manning, 24, while the victim was serving with the United Nations
peacekeeping force in East Timor. If found guilty, he could face
the death penalty.

"The court has the jurisdiction to try this case," presiding
judge I Nengah Suriada said, without elaborating.

The court also dismissed the lawyers' argument that Bere
should be tried at a military court because he had been a soldier
fighting with the Pro-Integration Fighters (PPI).

According to Suriada, the panel of judges agreed with the
prosecutors that, at the time of the incident, the defendant had
been a farmer involved in herding wild cows.

"We believe that, when the incident happened, there was no
condition of war as claimed by the defense lawyers," Suriada
said.

Bere, and five other militiamen, allegedly shot Manning while
the UN force was tracking militiamen in a border area near Suai,
East Timor on July 24 last year.

According to the autopsy report, as cited by the indictment,
Manning was shot twice, and had his ears cut off and his throat
slashed.

Bere's lawyer, Suhardi Somomoeljono, said he would appeal.
However, this would not affect the legal process as the court
will resume next week to hear testimony from witnesses.

Prosecutor Muhammad Syafei told The Jakarta Post after the
day's proceedings that he would present a total of 26 witnesses,
most of them New Zealand peacekeepers.

He explained that the court had the jurisdiction to try the
case following an agreement between the East Nusa Tenggara
Police, the Provincial Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney
General of the United Nations Administration in East Timor
(UNTAET), which was signed on June 26.

The agreement stipulated that Manning's murder case would be
brought to the Central Jakarta District Court.

Asked about the other five militiamen allegedly involved in
the murder, the prosecutor said that three of them would soon
appear before the same court. The other two, according to the
indictment, were on the run, but reports said one of them had
died, something the prosecutor could not confirm.

Separately, Bere told reporters that he was not satisfied with
the court's decision.

"I am sorry for what I did, but I didn't plan it," said the
defendant, who can not speak Indonesian fluently.