Lawyers probe legality of rights trials

Lawyers probe legality of rights trials

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Defense lawyers for two men accused of committing human rights
atrocities in East Timor in 1999 challenged the legality of the
ongoing trials against them on Thursday, arguing that the
country's legal code does not recognize retroactive principles.

They also insisted that Law No. 26/2000, which serves as the
legal basis for the human rights trial, did not specifically
mention East Timor as falling under the court's jurisdiction.

"Indonesian law does not recognize retroactive principles,"
said lawyer Otto Cornelius Kaligis, one of 12 attorneys at the
Central Jakarta Human Rights Court defending former East Timor
Governor Abilio Soares.

"The Human Rights Law very much runs against the constitution
concerning the principle of retroactivity. It is very clear in
the constitution that the principle of retroactivity cannot be
applied to anyone over anything," another lawyer, Juan Felix
Tampubolon, said.

Kaligis said that the defense team would demand a review by
the People's Consultative Assembly and by the Supreme Court of
Law No. 26/2000, charging that the trials were "full of political
content and influence from overseas."

Abilio and former East Timor police chief Brig. Gen. Timbul
Silaen appeared in court for the second time on Thursday on
charges that they committed human rights violations in East Timor
before, during and after the UN-organized referendum in 1999 in
which most East Timorese voted to break away from Indonesia.

Thursday's trial was presided over by Judge Andi Samsan
Nganro.

Outside the court, about 100 members of the Indonesian
Defender Front (FPBI) protested what they called foreign
interference in justice, and voiced support for the Indonesian
military and police actions in East Timor.

The protesters burned a mock ballot box to show opposition to
the territory's UN-sponsored vote which took place in August
1999.

"Serious war crime? It's crazy, Mr. Annan!" read one placard
in reference to UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.

"My client is charged with something that was done by someone
else. In the such a criminal case, the perpetrator must be
responsible over their own act," Kaligis told the court.

The defense team also said Abilio should not be held
accountable for his subordinates' actions, since district heads
were chosen by the local parliament.

Abilio, 54, is charged with responsibility for violations by
the civilian heads of the Liquicia and Covalima districts,
Leonito Martins and Herman Sedyono.

Prosecutors, however, asked on Thursday that the panel judges
continue the trial and accept the indictment, saying that
objections by the defense lawyers have no legal basis.

"We ask the judges to ignore the objections of the defense
lawyers which earlier said that he could not be charged before
the court," prosecutor James Pardede told the court.

The court was then adjourned until March 28.

After the trial, Abilio expressed disappointment, saying that
he felt the Indonesian government has abandoned him despite the
national policy to hold the 1999 vote in East Timor.

"The government left its problems with me ... I can't do
anything to help myself, except to undergo the legal process,"
Abilio said.

Prosecutors in Silaen's trial at the same court rejected
similar arguments raised last week by his lawyers. They said that
the jurisdiction cited by defense lawyers referred only to a
permanent human rights court, and not an "ad hoc" one, like the
current hearing.

Militiamen allegedly organized by senior Jakarta officials
waged a campaign of intimidation and harassment before East
Timor's vote to split from Indonesia. After the vote, a scorched
earth campaign ensued as a form of revenge.

Hundreds of people died as a result, while entire towns were
burned to the ground. More than 250,000 people, meanwhile, were
moved into Indonesian-ruled West Timor after the vote.

Jakarta has come under strong international pressure to punish
those responsible, but international rights groups are skeptical
that the rights court will deliver true justice.

Top officers of the powerful military packed the court in a
show of support for defendants as five middle-ranking Indonesian
officers went on trial Tuesday.