General skips another court hearing

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