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)