Six witnesses fail to appear at trial for E. Timor mayhem
Six witnesses fail to appear at trial for E. Timor mayhem
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The failure of witnesses to appear in court forced a human
rights tribunal to postpone on Tuesday the trial of five middle-
ranking military soldiers and police officers charged with crimes
against humanity in East Timor in 1999.
Presiding judge Cicut Sutiarso adjourned the trial until next
week, urging the prosecutors to produce the six witnesses, who
include a relative of some of the victims, Dominggos dos Santos
Mouzinho.
The other witnesses are three police officers -- Jehezkiel
Berek, Jacobus Tanamal and Yopi Lekatompessy -- and two military
soldiers -- Sonik Iskandar and I Wayan Suka Antara.
Prosecutor Darmono told the court that the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor was making efforts to
fly Dominggos dos Santos Mouzinho, a resident of East Timor's
Suai district, to Jakarta.
Two of the other witnesses, Berek and Sonik, are ill, while
Tanamal is currently taking part in a training exercise, Darmono
said.
"And due to bad weather, I Wayan could not fly to Jakarta from
Rote island in East Nusa Tenggara, while we have yet to locate
Lekatompessy," Darmono said, adding that this last witness had
retired from the police and could not be reached.
Prosecutors plan to call two additional witnesses at the next
hearing, but refused to reveal their identities.
The court session on Tuesday was to be the fifth for former
Covalima regent Col. Herman Sedyono, former Suai Military Command
chief Lt. Col. Liliek Koeshadianto, his successor Lt. Col.
Sugito, former Suai Military Command chief of staff Capt. Achmad
Syamsudin and former Suai Police chief Lt. Col. Gatot Subiaktoro.
Suai is the capital of Covalima regency on the southwestern
tip of East Timor.
The five have been accused of failing to control the people
under their command, including five pro-Indonesia militia
leaders, resulting in the killing of at least 27 people taking
refuge in the St. Ave Maria Church in September 1999. The
massacre took place days after the results of the self-
determination ballot in Indonesia's former territory were
announced, with nearly 80 percent of East Timorese voting for
independence.
The five also are accused of ignoring information that their
troops were attacking the church's Catholic priests: Tarsisius
Dewanto, Hilario Madeira and Fransisco Soares.