Tono's verdict to be delivered May 23

Tono's verdict to be delivered May 23

JAKARTA: The ad-hoc human rights tribunal is scheduled to
deliver on May 23 the verdict of former East Timor Military
Commander Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman, who is accused of failing to
prevent a spate of human rights abuses before and after the 1999
self-determination ballot in East Timor.

Presiding judge Andi Samsan Nganro announced the decision on
Thursday after Tono's lawyers presented the last defense
statements at the hearing.

During the hearing, his lawyers insisted that the defendant
was not guilty for the bloodshed outside the house of Manuel
Carrascalao on April 17, 1999, or the massacre inside the Ave
Maria church in Suai on April 5 and April 6, 1999.

The attack on the church claimed nine lives, while the attacks
on the residences of Carrascalao claimed the lives of 12
civilians, including Carrascalao's teenage son Manuelito.

Tono is one of 18 former East Timor officials the human rights
tribunal is trying or has tried for their involvement in a series
of human rights abuses in the territory in 1999. Eleven of them
were acquitted, five were given light sentences, and two,
including Tono, are awaiting verdicts. -- JP