Questioning on E. Timor mayhem to go on: Marzuki

Questioning on E. Timor mayhem to go on: Marzuki

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Sunday
that his office, together with the UN Transitional Administration
in East Timor (UNTAET), will resume efforts to question 22
witnesses in connection with violence in East Timor last year,
despite opposition from their lawyers.

Marzuki said that his office will again summon the witnesses
who initially failed to appear at the Attorney General's Office
last week and asserted that UNTAET's involvement was not a
violation of Indonesia's sovereignty.

"There is an essential misunderstanding about the questioning,
that is unnecessary, and which has been blown up out of
proportion by the team of lawyers representing the military and
police officers who have been summoned as witnesses," he told The
Jakarta Post on Sunday afternoon by telephone.

Lawyers for the 22 witnesses had questioned the right of the
UNTAET to question their clients despite the existence of a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) which permits such action.

On Friday, the lawyers said that the MOU was not binding and
cannot serve as a legal ground for questioning.

Marzuki pointed out that the lawyers themselves had also
invoked articles within the MOU during a visit to East Timor
earlier this year.

"The lawyers themselves had used the facility served by the
memorandum of understanding between the government and UNTAET to
visit East Timor for their own investigation. In this case, they
gave a misleading defense by claiming that we turned in their
clients to UN investigators," Marzuki said.

Marzuki assumed that the military and police superiors were
not aware of the real situation and progress involving their
lower-ranking personnel in the case and that they had been given
inaccurate information which was "raised in a wrongful manner".

"Tomorrow (Monday) I will have a meeting with the coordinating
minister for political, social and security affairs, the military
and police chiefs to straighten the matter," he added while
noting that the questioning is likely to proceed smoothly if
there is cooperation from military and police superiors.

The deadline for the five-day questioning falls on Wednesday.

Questioning will be conducted directly by Indonesian
investigators with questions from material provided by the UN
investigators.

The result will be used for UN investigations over human
rights abuses in the former Indonesian province.

Marzuki said his office will again summon the witnesses and
give them more time for preparation.

"I assume they have failed to appear because the summons was
too sudden. This time we will give them some more time," he said.
(bby)