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.