Eurico under house arrest in E. Jakarta

Eurico under house arrest in E. Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): The North Jakarta Prosecutors' Office
transferred on Tuesday former East Timorese pro-Indonesia militia
leader Eurico Guterres from state detention in Salemba
penitentiary, Central Jakarta, to a house in East Jakarta where
he will remain under house arrest.

Eurico's lawyer Suhardi Somomoeljono told The Jakarta Post
that Eurico, escorted by a number of police officers and
officials from the prosecutor's office, left the penitentiary for
his house in the Cipayung district at about 10 a.m.

The North Jakarta District Court granted on Tuesday the appeal
by Eurico's lawyer requesting that the head of the feared Aitarak
pro-Jakarta militia be placed under house arrest as he had been
cooperative during the trial process and has assured the judges
that he will not try to escape.

Eurico is on trial on charges of inciting violence and illegal
possession of weapons. He is accused of having ordered his
followers last Sept. 24 to take back weapons they had surrendered
to the police in East Nusa Tenggara as a part of a disarmament
program. Suhardi said that Eurico still had followers in
Jakarta and in East Nusa Tenggara. "It will be easier for him to
coordinate with them from the house," he said.

He said his client lived in a two-story rented house with five
bedrooms. Two police officers and two prosecution officials have
been assigned to guard the house, he said.

Eurico will be accompanied by about 10 friends at the house,
pending the arrival of Eurico's wife and three children from
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

He is allowed to receive visits at anytime as long as the
visitors announce their identities and fill in the guest book.

Eurico, who is not allowed to leave the house during his
detention, will remain there until the court decides whether or
not he is guilty.(01)