Unexpected three year jail sentence for Damiri

Unexpected three year jail sentence for Damiri

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite a prosecution request for the acquittal of Maj. Gen.
Adam Damiri, the ad hoc human rights tribunal decided on Tuesday
to slap a three-year jail term on the military bigwig for his
involvement in the 1999 mayhem in East Timor.

"The court finds the defendant guilty of having committed
gross human rights violations in East Timor," Presiding Judge
Marni Emmy Mustafa told a packed courtroom on Tuesday.

Damiri's lawyers and supporters, who had packed the courtroom,
were stunned as the judges had been widely expected to acquit him
after prosecutors had recommended that all charges be dropped due
to "lack of evidence".

One of them branded the government as "the devil", while
Damiri's lawyers openly castigated the judges. The situation was
brought under control, however, after Damiri, who had initially
lost his composure and started shouting, finally calmed down and
asked his supporters to do the same.

"I respect the court's ruling but I feel very disappointed
with this decision. It will not only affect my family and my
soldiers, but also the Indonesian Military (TNI) as an
institution," said Damiri, who was the most senior soldier to
have been tried for human rights violations in East Timor.

He asserted that he would appeal the verdict, which came on
the same day as a powerful car bomb went off at Jakarta's J.W.
Marriott Hotel, killing at least 15 people and injuring 100.

As with most senior Indonesian state officials who have been
convicted of serious criminal offenses, Damiri will remain at
liberty pending his appeal.

According to the verdict, Damiri, who was in charge of the
Udayana Military Command overseeing East Timor, was guilty of a
dereliction of duty in failing to prevent his subordinates from
attacking, and permitting pro-integration militias to attack,
pro-independence East Timorese who took refuge in houses and
churches in Liquica, Dili and Tovalima between April and
September 1999.

Responding to the request by the prosecution that Damiri be
acquitted, the panel of five judges ruled that the request was
"discriminatory and unfair to the other defendants in the East
Timor cases."

The panel of judges, made up of Emmy, Rocky Panjaitan,
Komariah Emong Sapardjaja, Rudy M. Rizky and Sulaiman Hamid, also
said that the recommendation was based on "inaccurate and
inconsistent" grounds.

The judges noted that the mayhem before and after the ballot
in East Timor in 1999 had cost innocent lives, caused massive
damage to property and severely damaged Indonesia's image and
standing on the international stage.

According to rights activists, some 1,000 people in East Timor
died prior to and after the 1999 referendum, which resulted in a
massive vote in favor of independence from Indonesia, which had
annexed the territory in 1976.

In their verdict, the judges stated that "we cannot blame
those who believe the accusations that the state initiated the
mayhem as we can see that there was a repeated pattern of attacks
that claimed the lives of East Timorese victims."

They also said the facts revealed the involvement of the
National Police and TNI in the violence in East Timor as they
were the elements of the government that were responsible for
security in the former province. Thus, they could not wash their
hands of the violence that occurred.

Upon hearing the verdict, Damiri, who is currently the
operations assistant to the TNI chief of general affairs, became
hysterical, and started shouting and waving his arms in protest
against the verdict.

The Damiri conviction brings to a conclusion a series of
trials involving 18 civilian and military leaders in the former
East Timor province over their roles in the 1999 mayhem.

Six of the defendants have been found guilty, but the light
sentences handed down have contributed to a widespread perception
that the entire process was little more than a whitewash designed
to preempt the setting up of an international human rights
tribunal along the lines of that hearing rights cases from the
former Yugoslavia.

The toughest sentence of 10 years in prison was handed down to
a Timorese civilian who led a pro-integration militia, despite
the fact that many are convinced he was incapable of acting
without state support.