East Timorese jailed for demonstration

East Timorese jailed for demonstration

DILI, East Timor (JP): The Dili district court has sentenced two men to a total of 41 months in jail for staging an anti- government demonstration at the East Timor University in January.

The court sentenced Lemos Bareto to 21 months and Inasio de Jesus dos Santos to 20 months in jail. Both offenders, who were tried separately, accepted the verdict.

They are part of 13 demonstrators at the university, who have been brought to trial. Last week, the same court jailed two demonstrators to a total of 49 months in jail on similar charges.

Yesterday's verdicts were more lenient than those sought by the prosecutors, who had demanded 27 months for Bareto and 24 months for dos Santos.

The panel of judges said in their verdicts that the offenders were guilty of staging a pro-independence demonstration, involving banners with anti-government messages. The offenders, they said, sowed hatred toward the legitimate government.

The judges also said that the offenders deserved sentences more lenient than the ones prosecutors sought because they only took part in a demonstration upon someone else's instigation.

The demonstration was held to coincide with a meeting on the East Timor question in Geneva, between Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and Portuguese Jose Duarte Durao Baroso, under the auspices of the United Nations.

The protest was held in the presence of several international journalists, to attract the world's attention to their cause, the judges said. (yac/pan)