Militia member admits to stabbing UNHCR worker
Militia member admits to stabbing UNHCR worker
JAKARTA (JP): A pro-integration East Timorese militia member
told the North Jakarta District Court on Thursday that he had
stabbed a UNHCR humanitarian aid worker after witnessing another
man do the same thing.
"I stabbed the man once and then I went home. I didn't know if
he was alive or not after I left," Joao Alves da Cruis testified
in the trial over last year's incident in Atambua, East Nusa
Tenggara, involving the murder of three UNHCR workers.
He said that he attacked the victim after seeing Joao Martin
stabbing him.
The court is trying six militia members in two separate
trials.
Alves, who stands trial along with Jose Fransisco and Julius
Naesama, was testifying in the trial of Joao Martin, Xisto
Pareira and Serapim Jimenez.
On Sept. 6 last year, the mob attacked the UN High Commission
for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, set
the building on fire and killed three foreign staff: Fero
Simundza, Carlos de Seros and Samson Aregafoe.
The incident is believed to have been triggered by the death
of Olivio Mendoza Moruk, a former militia leader, a day earlier.
Moruk was one of 23 suspects named by the Attorney General's
Office for human rights violations in East Timor in 1999.
Jose Fransisco told the court that he saw Joao Martin throwing
a stone towards the chest of one of the victims.
"The black skinned man was holding a 50-centimeter club and
tried to hit Joao. Joao, who was five meters away, then threw a
stone which hit the man's chest," he told the court.
He also testified that he heard yells encouraging the mob to
attack the UNHCR office.
The witness said that he saw Izidio Manek, Olivio's younger
brother, firing two shots, which provoked the people to break
into the office.
Naesama testified later that he had not seen his cousins Xisto
Pareira and Serapim Jimenez at the crime scene. He also said that
he did not commit any violent acts.
"I didn't do anything, I just went into the UNHCR office.
People came because they wanted to pay respect to our friend
Olivio Moruk.
"I saw nothing and got home before the fire got bigger. Later
I heard on the radio that three people had been killed and that
the fire had burned their bodies," he said.
Prosecutor Widodo Supriadi then showed judges the blood-
stained stone, believed to be the one used to hit the victim.
The hearings were adjourned until Monday when defense
witnesses will be heard.(bby)