Rebel leader gets 18 months

Rebel leader gets 18 months

DILI, East Timor: The district court here yesterday sentenced Jose Antonio Belo to 18 months in jail for masterminding a pro- independence demonstration in January.

Belo, a University of East Timor student, was accused of planning and designing banners for the demonstration that was staged on the university's campus on Jan. 9.

The verdict, read by presiding judge Agustinus Runggu, was less than the three-year term prosecutors had demanded.

Belo, the leader of a pro-independence movement, told reporters that he was dissatisfied with the sentence and considered 18 months "too short and unfair" in view of the longer penalties of between 24 and 30 months meted out to his friends.

Calling himself a "Timor Leste" (Independent Timor) citizen, Belo left the courtroom yelling "Viva Timor Leste" and "Viva Xanana Gusmao", the pro-independence rebel leader currently in jail in Jakarta. (yac)