Dutch to reveal probe on Thoenes

JAKARTA: The secretariat of the human rights ad hoc prosecutors revealed on Monday that Dutch police assigned to probe the murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes in the 1999 East Timor debacle will hand over the investigation's result to Attorney General M.A. Rachman on July 17.

Secretary Umar Bawazier, accompanied by Attorney General deputy spokesman Chuck Suryosumpeno, told reporters that the probe carried out by Chief Inspector GWC Thiery of the Royal Netherlands Police may provide hard proof to reopen Indonesia's investigation into the case.

Thoenes, a Jakarta-based writer for London's Financial Times, was killed on the first day he arrived in Dili on Sept. 21, 1999, as he and motorcycle driver Florindo Counseiho Araujo traveled around Dili to cover the post-ballot destruction of the city. In Becora suburb, a former militia stronghold, armed men chased the motorcycle and shot out the rear wheel.

His body was found the next day with multiple wounds and an ear missing.

The ad hoc prosecutors dropped the case due to what they say was a lack of evidence. --JP