Rights defendant backs commission

The People's Consultative Assembly's Annual Session, which has been underway for seven days, has drawn quite a lot of attention from the public, including Eurico Guterres.

Clad in black and with his curly hair mane-like as usual, Eurico entered the MPR compound on Wednesday, then walked briskly across the Nusantara V building. Soon he was surrounded by reporters, drawing attention away from other visitors to the Annual Assembly.

Eurico is a former commander of a pro-Jakarta militia group in East Timor, and is currently facing human rights abuse charges in the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court for his alleged involvement in the East Timor rampage in the aftermath of that country's independence referendum in 1999.

But, apparently, he did not come to appeal to legislators for his exoneration from the charges. Instead, he talked about this week's hot topic: the much-debated amendments to the 1945 Constitution.

"I don't agree with a transitional constitution. Just set up a constitutional commission," Eurico said, while several reporters were seen taping his statement.

He added that the country needed a good constitution to lift it out of the current crisis.

Since this is a democratic country, everybody can voice their opinions, Eurico added. --JP