Judges split over human rights abuse verdict

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Human Rights Court failed on Monday to sentence a police officer charged with gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999 due to unresolved disagreement among the five judges.

Presiding Judge Andriani Nurdin said the judges presiding over the trial could not reach a unanimous decision in the case of Lt. Col. Hulman Gultom, former Chief of Dili Police, and decided to delay the trial until next Monday.

Andriani said the panel of judges had agreed not to vote for the verdict but to reach a unanimous decision.

"We don't want to issue a rush verdict, as that would not be of benefit to anyone and would be irresponsible.

"We regret to say that we still need time to talk to each other in order to find a good, just and proper decision, therefore we are delaying the trial for one week," she said.

Hulman is charged with failing to prevent the attacks and killings in the house of Manuel Vegas Carascalao committed by pro-Jakarta militiamen on April 17, 1999.

At least 12 people taking refuge in Manuel's house were killed and many others were injured.

State Prosecutor Nasir A. Maksum has demanded that Hulman be sentenced to 10 years in jail for his crime.

Hulman is one of 18 military officers, police officers and civilians brought to court for human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999.

Eleven of them have been acquitted, and only three -- two East Timorese civilians and one military officer -- were declared guilty of gross human rights violations. Three more officers are still awaiting verdicts in separate trials.

Former East Timor governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares and former militia leader Eurico Guterres were punished with three years and ten years in jail respectively, while Lt. Col. Soedjarwo, former Dili military commander was sentenced to five years in jail, all three are free after they filed for appeal.

At least a thousand people died and 250,000 others were forced to flee to East Nusa Tenggara, before, during and after an independence vote in East Timor in August, 1999.

About 80 percent of East Timorese voted for separation from Indonesia and declared their independence last year.

The court is still hearing testimony in the cases of Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman, former East Timor military commander and his successor Col. Noer Muis, as well as Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, former chief of Udayana Military Command overseeing security in Bali, Nusa Tenggara and the then-East Timor province.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor Nasir said such a verdict delay was the discretion of the judges and could not be objected to.

"It's standard procedure in a trial like this," he said.