Soldiers in Liquisa killing seek acquittals

Soldiers in Liquisa killing seek acquittals

JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers representing two soldiers tried
separately in connection with the deaths of six East Timorese
villagers are appealing to the military tribunal to acquit their
clients of the murder charges.

In his defense statement, the soldier who fired the six
villages, said he was simply carrying out an order from his
commanding officer. The commanding officer, in his defense, said
however that without the order to kill, the soldier would have
opened fire anyway given his state of mind at the time.

The two soldiers are currently being tried at the military
tribunal in Denpasar, Bali, for the killing of the six East
Timorese villagers on Jan. 12. The incident occurred during a
military operation to go after guerrillas of the East Timor's
armed separatist movement Fretilin.

According to testimony presented at the tribunal, the six men
were taken prisoners by the patrol unit. They were executed with
their arms tied.

On trial is Second Lieutenant Jeremias Kasse, an intelligence
office who led the patrol, whom the military prosecutors accused
of giving the order to eliminate the unarmed villagers; and First
Private Rusdin Maumere, who is being charged with carrying out
the actual killing.

The military prosecutors earlier this week demanded a
six-year-and-nine-month imprisonment for Jeremias and an eight-
year jail term for Rusdin. They also demanded that the tribunal
ordered for the expulsion of both defendants from the military.

On Thursday, Lt. Col Cahyono and Second Lieutenant Epi
Susanto, the military lawyers representing Jeremias, said that
although their client uttered the word "to eliminate' in his
instruction to Rusdin, the word did not necessarily mean "to
kill."

They said given the state of mind of Rusdin at the time,
especially after one of his colleagues had been stabbed during
the operation, he would have killed the six prisoners without the
order from their client. They also pointed out that their client
showed remorse immediately after the killing.

In a separate hearing also on Thursday, the lawyers defending
Rusdin, Major Lastra and Captain Wirawati, said their client was
simply obeying order from his commanding officer in killing the
six prisoners.

The defendant "did not have the authority to neglect the
order," Major Lastra said.

The lawyers also appealed to the judges to consider the deep
hatred Rusdin had against the rebels because his mother, father,
sister and uncle were all killed by Fretilin rebels.

In their testimony, the two defendants insisted that all the
six villagers were members or supporters of the Fretilin.

Rusdin's lawyers also argued that their client, a native East
Timorese, never attended school and joined the military as a
voluntary conscript. "It would have been too much to expect him
to be able to assess the implications of the order from his
superior," Major Lastra said.

The lawyers representing Jeremias also argued for acquittal
because of lack of material evidence presented by the
prosecutors, such as the bullets' encasing that supposedly had
come from Rusdin's weapon, or the post mortem reports of the
victims.

The military tribunal is expected to rule on both cases on
Monday. (emb)