East Timor defendant to walk free

East Timor defendant to walk free

JAKARTA: Indonesia's much criticized attempt to bring to justice military officers accused in the destruction of East Timor is scheduled to end Tuesday with the highest-ranking soldier implicated in the bloodshed almost certain to walk free.

The prosecution itself has asked that Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri be acquitted - an outcome likely to add to outrage among local and international rights groups, which have called the trials a whitewash.

A stack of similar acquittals has hurt efforts to reform Indonesia's notoriously brutal military and make it accountable for abuses in East Timor and elsewhere in Indonesia, including the separatist-minded province of Aceh, where the government launched an offensive in May.

"This will give (the military) a new sense of impunity and increase their political leverage," said Hendardi, who heads Indonesia's Human Rights and Legal Aid Association.

"If they can get away with it in East Timor, they will feel they can get away with it in Aceh," said Hendardi who like many Indonesians goes by a single name.

On Tuesday, a Jakarta court is scheduled to deliver its verdict in Damiri's trial on charges of crimes against humanity.

East Timor was under Damiri's area of command when soldiers and army-trained militia laid waste to the province after voters opted for independence in a U.N. plebiscite in August, 1999.

The territory finally became independent in May 2002. --AP