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)