Militiaman's trial postponed

Militiaman's trial postponed

JAKARTA: The Central Jakarta District Court postponed on
Monday the trial of a militiaman accused of killing a New Zealand
peacekeeper in East Timor last year.

Prosecutor Samadi Budisyah said Yacobus Bere, 37, could not be
brought before the court because he was being treated at Kramat
Jati Hospital following prostate surgery on Oct. 19.

Judge I Nengah Suriada postponed the trial indefinitely until
the defendant recovers.

Bere, a pro-Indonesia East Timorese, is accused of murdering
Pvt. Leonard William Manning, 24, on July 24 last year on the
border of East Timor and Indonesian West Timor.

He arrived in Jakarta last month to attend the trial. -- JP