Second soldier jailed for Liquisa killing

JAKARTA (AFP): In the second sentence passed in relation to the Liquisa incident, a military tribunal in Denpasar, Bali, yesterday sentenced a soldier to four years imprisonment for shooting dead six unarmed East Timorese captives during a military patrol.

First Private Rusdin Maumere was found guilty of carrying out the execution of the six men in an isolated village in the Liquisa regency in January, Antara reported.

The tribunal heard that all six victims had had their hands tied behind their backs when they were shot.

Rusdin, a native East Timorese, is the second soldier convicted in connection with the incident, which sparked international outrage and further dented Indonesia's image abroad regarding East Timor.

The other soldier, Rusdin's commanding officer Second Lieutenant Jeremias Kasse, was handed a four-and-a-half year prison term by the same tribunal on Monday. In addition, the tribunal, which tried the two cases separately, has recommended that both Rusdin and Jeremias be discharged from the military.

Rusdin's main defense, that he was carrying out an order from Jeremias, was rejected by the military tribunal.

The judges trying the case pointed out that, prior to the operation, the 30-strong patrol unit headed by Jeremias, of which Rusdin was a member, had been specifically told by the chief of the Liquisa military district command, Lt. Col. Tris Suryawan, that they were to take prisoners alive unless they were armed or resisted arrest.

Both Rusdin and Jeremias insisted during their separate trials that the six men killed had been supporters of Fretilin, an armed separatist movement, and had had knowledge of the group's activities in Liquisa.

The patrol unit had been following the trail of a prominent Fretilin member prior to the incident, the tribunal heard.

The defense placed emphasis on the fact that the shooting was carried out after one of the soldiers in the operation was stabbed, apparently by the Fretilin member they were chasing.

During the trial Rusdin made plain his hatred for Fretilin, whom he said had killed his parents and other members of his family.

Jeremias admitted to having ordered Rusdin to "eliminate" the six prisoners in retaliation for the injury sustained by one of his men.

Rusdin was found guilty on two charges: disobeying an order from a superior and the murder of the six East Timorese.

The prosecutors had pressed for an eight-year sentence for Rusdin and a six-year-and-nine-month term for Jeremias. The military tribunal ruled, however, that Jeremias' crime was greater than Rusdin's.

Jeremias was found guilty on three charges: disobeying an order, causing another person to commit murder, and filing a false report to his superior.

He had earlier reported to the Liquisa command that the six were killed during an armed clash. The Armed Forces headquarters stuck to this version for weeks as the incident became public. The outrage that followed led to an internal investigation by the military and another by the National Commission on Human Rights. (emb)