Legal aid body lawyers denied access to Xanana
Legal aid body lawyers denied access to Xanana
JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation
(YLBHI) were denied access yesterday to see the jailed East Timor
rebel leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao to discuss his
petition for a review of his conviction.
The team of lawyers turned up at the Cipinang Correctional
Institution only to be told that their request to see the
prisoner could not be met.
The team, consisting of chairman Adnan Buyung Nasution,
Frans Hendra Winarta, Harjono Tjitrosoebono, Irianto Subijakto
and Luhut Pangaribuan, was stopped by guards who said that they
had received no order from the warden to open Xanana's door.
The warden of the correctional institute Soeharto was not at
his office.
"We've come as common visitors," Buyung, the spokesman of the
team said.
He added that yesterday was supposed to be a special day for
visiting political prisoners in Cipinang, during which visitors
would not need any special letter to visit inmates.
Buyung said the team will make another attempt tomorrow.
The lawyers wanted to discuss Xanana's request for a new trial
following allegations that his trial at the Dili District Court
last year was fraught with irregularities.
"We can't decide yet on the kinds of legal channels to pursue
because we haven't met with him. But we will meet with the
concerned agencies to review the case immediately after we see
Xanana," Buyung said. "We first want to know Xanana's reason to
have the case review."
"We will discuss with him the nature of the legal review and
whatever consequences it may bring if the step is taken," he
said.
Xanana signed a letter authorizing the YLBHI to represent him
when the lawyers from the foundation visited him last March. The
visit was made possible at that time with the help of the
National Commission on Human Rights.
Xanana, the commander of the armed Fretilin movement, is
serving a 20-year jail term for his role in leading the rebellion
in East Timor from the time the former Portuguese colony
integrated with Indonesia in 1976.
He was arrested in November 1992 and convicted by the Dili
District Court in May. In August, President Soeharto commuted his
life sentence to 20 years in jail after his lawyer Sudjono
applied for clemency, something Xanana has since disputed.
Clemency
Afterwards, in his letter, Xanana stated that he never
requested presidential clemency because it went against his
principles and that he was the victim of manipulation.
"If the government allows the meeting between Xanana and us,
it will help to show that the rule of law is upheld here," Buyung
said.
The YLBHI delegation had earlier appealed to Baharuddin Lopa,
of the National Commission on Human Rights, to act on the
complaints made by Xanana in his letters to the Geneva-based
International Commission of Jurists and the Portuguese
government. In those letters, Xanana asked them to use their
influence to help overturn the ruling and hold a new trial in an
international court.
The lawyers said they are seriously concerned about this
problem and that many parties are urging them to do their best to
help settle the case.
The 46-year-old Xanana saw his wife and children for the first
time in almost 20 years when they visited him two weeks ago.
The visit was organized by the International Committee of the
Red Cross for "humanitarian reasons".
Xanana reportedly had not seen his wife and children since
they left East Timor to settle in Australia. The three traveled
here on Portuguese passports under the aegis of the Red Cross.
(prs)