Gusmao wants Dutch journalist's murder trial held in East Timor
Gusmao wants Dutch journalist's murder trial held in East Timor
Agence France-Presse, Dili
East Timor President Xanana Gusmao said on Tuesday any trial for
the murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes should be held in
his country.
"I would like the legal process to be held in East Timor so
that East Timorese perpetrators could see for themselves that
justice does exist," Gusmao said, referring to the possible role
of East Timorese members of the Indonesian army in Thoenes'
death.
Gusmao was speaking to reporters after talks with Peter
Thoenes, the brother of Financial Times correspondent Sander who
was killed in the Becora area of Dili on Sept. 21, 1999.
Thoenes, Gusmao said, should stand as "an example for East
Timorese press so that his bravery could be imitated by East
Timorese journalists."
Dutch Ambassador Baron Schelter van Heemstra, who accompanied
the elder Thoenes, said his government would seek justice, "no
matter how long it takes."
Dutch police Superintendent Gerrit Thiry last month presented
Indonesian investigators with a videotape that appears to support
witness statements implicating Indonesian soldiers in Thoenes'
murder.
"There is more than enough (evidence) to arrest at least
several TNI (Indonesian armed forces) members as suspects in the
hope that they will be questioned as suspects, not just as
witnesses," Thiry said in July.
The spokesman for the Indonesian attorney general's office,
Barman Zahir, confirmed on Tuesday that the case remained open.
He said prosecutors were still gathering witnesses but they
must first ask permission from Jakarta's ad hoc human rights
court to officially continue with the probe.
Zahir said the Indonesian investigators remained uncertain
about who shot Thoenes, and they were "very hesitant" with a key
witness of Thiry's.
Thoenes was riding pillion on a motorcycle at the time of his
death.
Thiry said the motorcycle driver has told investigators that
shots were fired after he and Thoenes saw approaching troops from
Indonesian Battalion 745. The rear tire of the bike went flat and
Thoenes fell.
Other witnesses say soldiers were standing over Thoenes' body
as a shot was heard and the motorcycle lying on the road was
loaded onto an Indonesian army truck, Thiry said.
On the videotape, Thiry said, a black motorcycle was seen
being unloaded from a truck at a Dili military base in the
presence of soldiers and police wearing bandanas.
Thiry said the tape showed the rear tyre of the motorcycle was
flat.