No escort, no trial

DILI, East Timor: The district court here has postponed the trial of five youths charged with organizing illegal meetings because no security personnel was available to escort the defendants yesterday from the detention house.

The trial of the youths, aged between 25 and 36, was rescheduled to open today, Antara reported.

A court official, Hamzah, said that the police officers who usually escort detainees from the detention house in Becora to the district court were celebrating the police force's 50th anniversary.

In a trial last year, the prosecutor said the defendants had organized an illegal meeting in order to form a plan seeking an independent East Timor and to sow hatred against the Indonesian government. (pan)