FM plays down arrest warrant for Wiranto
FM plays down arrest warrant for Wiranto
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and several members
of the House of Representatives on Tuesday shrugged off the
United Nations-backed East Timorese court's decision to issue an
arrest warrant for former Indonesian Military chief Gen. (ret)
Wiranto after charging him with crimes against humanity.
"It (the warrant) has no international jurisdiction, including
on Indonesia. So why we should make a fuss about it," Hassan said
during a hearing with House Commission I, which oversees security
and foreign affairs here.
Hassan said he had not yet received the official letter from
East Timor about the arrest warrant.
The UN-backed court on Monday issued the arrest warrant for
Wiranto, who is also the Golkar Party's presidential candidate,
for his alleged crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999
when the Timorese voted to reject autonomy and eventually become
independent.
The foreign minister also said that the East Timor Serious
Crimes Unit (SCU), which indicted Wiranto last year and sought
the arrest warrant, was not established by the United Nations.
According to him, the SCU may issue a 1,000 warrants but they
would not affect Indonesian citizens.
Effendi Choirie, a House member from the National Awakening
Party (PKB), called on the government to reject any warrant that
would bring any Indonesians to a foreign court.
"Wiranto is an Indonesian citizen, and if he makes a mistake
he must be tried in Indonesia," he argued.
Another legislator Maj. Gen. (ret) Sidharto Danusubroto said
that the government should study carefully all the legal
consequences over the issuance of the warrant as "East Timor was
once Indonesian territory".
"The SCU may argue that during the alleged crimes, East Timor
was an Indonesian province," Sidharto said.
Meanwhile in Dili, East Timor's prosecutor general lashed out
on Tuesday at "his men" who issued an arrest warrant for Wiranto
and demanded changes in the approach to the case.
Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro filed a court motion
for a "revision" of the case against Wiranto, AFP reported on
Tuesday from Dili.
"I regret that arrest warrant," Monteiro told a press
conference. "My men have opened fire without an order from me,"
he said, implying that subordinates acted without authorization.
Montero also reportedly said his trust in the United Nations
and in the court's international staff had diminished.
It was not immediately clear how this would affect the case
against Wiranto, who is one of the leading candidates for
Indonesia's presidency.
According to Reuters, some top East Timorese officials have
suggested they are more interested in pursuing stronger economic
and political ties with giant neighbor Indonesia than cases
involving the tiny territory's bloody break from Jakarta in 1999.