Guterres sentenced to six months in jail

Guterres sentenced to six months in jail

JAKARTA (JP): Former East Timorese militia leader Eurico
Guterres was sentenced on Monday to six months in jail for
instigating violence.

The panel of judges presided over by Suwardi found Guterres,
27, guilty of giving orders to the prointegration militia to
seize weapons that they had earlier surrendered to Belu police,
East Nusa Tenggara, in September 1999.

He said that the sentence should be reduced by the time the
defendant had already spent in detention, meaning that he would
only have to serve a few weeks imprisonment. Eurico had been
detained since October before being put under house arrest in
March. According to the court, the defendant should remain under
house arrest until the verdict had been confirmed.

The defendant said he would appeal.

"I thank the judges who convicted me but I object to the
decision. The sentence only shows up the government's policy over
our struggle to keep East Timor part of this country. I have
decided to file an appeal," said an emotional Guterres, while
clad in military fatigues.

Dozens of Guterres' supporters clapped their hands and cheered
over the decision.

The defendant was charged under Article 160 of the Criminal
Code, which carries a maximum term of six years imprisonment.

The sentence itself was less than the one-year jail term
sought by prosecutors.

Prosecutor Hamka Minhadj told reporters that they were giving
consideration to filing an appeal over the decision.

East Timor is now under UN administration following the 1999
referendum result that revealed the desire of a substantial
majority of the population for independence from Indonesia.

According to the evidence presented, Guterres had been
prevented from attending the ceremony for the official handing
over of seized weapons to the authorities at Belu police
compound. The ceremony was attended by Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri.

When the ceremony was over, Guterres ordered the militia to
take back the weapons lying on a table at the police headquarters
and hand them to the military command as he did not trust the
police.

Fifteen of the weapons were taken by the militia, and were
returned to the military command a few days later. (bby)