Officers grilled over murder of Dutch journalist

Officers grilled over murder of Dutch journalist

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office have begun
questioning two army officers as part of their investigation into
the 1999 murder of a Dutch journalist in East Timor, officials
said on Saturday.

Head of the East Nusa Tenggara provincial prosecutors' office
Abdul Muis Gassing said that the two -- Lt. Col. Pieter Lobo,
chief of South Central Timor Military District command and Lt.
Col. Wilmard Aritonang, chief of Kupang Military District Command
-- were being questioned on suspicions that they had knowledge of
the killing.

The questioning, by prosecutors Sirus Sinaga and Teuku Rahman,
has been taking place since Thursday, according to Gassing,
addressing reporters in Kupang.

Both Lobo and Aritonang were previously stationed in East
Timor, a former Portuguese colony, during the period when the
killing took place.

Gassing said that the killers were believed to be members of
the 745th Infantry Battalion, stationed in Dili, which was
assigned to evacuate locals following an outbreak of militia
violence that stemmed from a UN-sponsored referendum on
independence.

In the past however, the Indonesian Military (TNI) has always
denied allegations that any in its ranks were behind the murder.

Gassing said that the two officers were suspected of being
fully aware of the incident that took place in Becora, Dili, East
Timor on Sept. 22, 1999, in which the Jakarta-based writer for
London's Financial Times Sander Thoenes was murdered.

Thoenes was found dead with multiple wounds and an ear
missing. He was murdered only two hours after he arrived in Dili.

"Officer Lobo ... was assigned to oversee areas covered by
troops of the 745th Infantry Battalion," meanwhile, "Aritonang is
being questioned, as he was the first officer to receive the
troops when they arrived in Kupang," West Timor, Gassing said.

Besides the two officers, the former head of the Atambua
regency Petrus Bria Seran and a mechanic, Aba Jawas, were also
questioned.

Seran was among the local officials who also welcomed the
troops on their arrival at Atambua, West Timor, which is in the
border area.