Wiranto, Damiri, Noer Muis to testify at human rights trial

Wiranto, Damiri, Noer Muis to testify at human rights trial

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto is
expected to make a much-anticipated appearance at the human
rights tribunal on April 4 to testify in the trial of a former
Indonesian official accused of committing crimes against humanity
in East Timor in 1999.

At the third hearing on Thursday, presiding Judge Andi Samsan
Nganro also plans to summon former chief of the Udayana Military
Command Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri and former chief of the Wiradharma
Military Command Brig. Gen. A. Noer Muis as witnesses at the
Central Jakarta District Court on April 4.

Judge Andi made the statements during the third session of the
trial of former East Timor police chief Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen,
who is accused of perpetrating gross human rights violations
before and after the August vote sponsored by the United Nations
in the former Indonesian province of East Timor in 1999.

"The court has accepted the prosecutors' indictment and
decided to continue the trial against the defendant. At the next
hearing on April 4, we ask the prosecutor to bring the three
witnesses to give their testimonies. They are Wiranto, Adam
Damiri and Noer Muis," Andi told the court.

Wiranto has repeatedly said he is ready to testify before the
court.

Some human rights activists have demanded that Wiranto be
named a suspect due to his position at the time when the violence
took place in East Timor. But Wiranto, who was questioned in 2000
by the commission of inquiry into the East Timor debacle, denied
any wrongdoing. His name was not in the list of 30 persons
recommended by the inquiry to the Attorney General's Office for
formal investigation.

Adam and Muis are among 18 defendants charged with gross human
rights violations in the former Portuguese colony.

Silaen is charged under Article 9 of Law No. 26/2000 on rights
tribunals with the killing of civilians that occurred at separate
locations in East Timor, including the Liquisa incident on April
6, 1999, as well as the attacks by pro-Jakarta militias on the
residences of pro-independence leaders, Manuel Viegas Carrascalao
and Leandro Isaac, on April 17, 1999.

Prosecutor James Pardede also accused Silaen of being
responsible when groups of soldiers of the Indonesian Military
(TNI) and the National Police went on the rampage at St. Ave
Maria church in Suai in September 1999. At least 27 people were
killed, including three Catholic priests.

Silaen is further accused of being responsible when militiamen
attacked Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo's residence in Dili on
Sept. 6, 1999.

"It's better for me for this trial to continue, so that we can
disclose to the public that we did good things there," Silaen
told reporters after the trial.

Earlier, defense lawyers challenged the legality of the
ongoing trial, arguing that the country's legal code did not
recognize retroactivity.

They also insisted that Law No. 26/2000, which serves as the
legal basis for the human rights trial, did not specifically
mention East Timor as coming under the court's jurisdiction.

"The establishment of the ad hoc tribunal is in line with a
decision of the House of Representatives as it asked the
executive to issue a decree about the matter.

"To follow up on this, the President issued a decree in 2001
to establish the ad hoc tribunal to try the 1984-bloodshed in
Tanjung Priok and the 1999 East Timor violence. Therefore, the
court is competent to try the case," Judge Andi said, adding that
the matter did not involve retroactivity.

Earlier in the day, the court resumed the trial of former East
Timor governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares on the same charges.
Like Silaen, Abilio's trial was adjourned until April 4 to hear
the panel of judges' decision.