General skips another court hearing

JAKARTA: Citing state duties in Aceh, defendant Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri skipped his third straight hearing at the ad hoc human rights court on Tuesday.

Adam's defense lawyers presented to the judges a letter signed by Indonesia Military Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, saying Adam had been assigned to visit the province to monitor the preparation for the military operation there.

On Monday, Adam was seen accompanying Endriartono during a hearing with the House of Representatives in South Jakarta, which ended in the afternoon.

The panel of five judges, presided over by Marni Emmy Mustafa, decided to postpone until May 22 the hearing which was supposed to hear prosecutor's sentence demand for the defendant.

Adam skipped his hearing twice last month, with his lawyers saying he was in Aceh and East Java respectively. But an official with the TNI headquarters confirmed that Adam was not in either of those cities when he failed to turn up for the trial.

Adam, the highest-ranking officer to appear before the human rights court as the former Udayana Military commander overseeing Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara and East Timor, is charged with crimes against humanity as a result of the carnage in East Timor in 1999. The offense carries a minimum penalty of 10 years in jail. -- JP