East Timor militia leader is jailed for war crimes
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Your support makes all the difference.The East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres was sentenced to 10 years in jail yesterday for his part in the massacre of 12 people in the run-up to an independence ballot three years ago.
Guterres, who led the feared Aitarak militia, was found guilty of crimes against humanity by a human rights court set up to hear cases relating to the violence that swept the former Indonesian province in 1999. He led an attack on the home of an independence activist, Manuel Carrascalao, in which 12 people, including Mr Carrascalao's 16-year-old son, were killed.
The court was established in response to international pressure to bring the perpetrators of the East Timor atrocities to justice, and its decision on Guterres was seen as a crucial test of Indonesia's credibility.
The court was criticised after it acquitted six people – a former police chief of East Timor and five military officers – and sentenced Abilio Soaresa, a former provincial governor, to just three years in jail.
Despite the 10-year sentence, Indonesia's legal system allows Guterres, 29, to remain free pending an appeal, which could take years. Guterres rejected the verdict. Surrounded by a dozen supporters, who booed when he was convicted, he said: "I will not accept the judge's decision even for one day or one hour, because what I did was for Indonesia."
At least 1,000 civilians were killed when pro-Jakarta militias – armed and organised by the Indonesian military – went on the rampage before, during and after the United Nations-sponsored ballot in August 1999. The Aitarak militia waged a campaign of terror in the capital, Dili, and surrounding areas.
The attack on Mr Carrascalao's home in April that year followed a speech in which Guterres urged his supporters to kill pro-independence activists. Those murdered had sought shelter in Mr Carrascalao's house. The judges said Guterres's speech "raised a feeling of vengeance and a desire to kill".
The evidence against Guterres was strong. Eleven witnesses saw the events, which were also recorded by television cameras. Guterres, a small Indonesian flag pinned to his lapel, listened impassively as Judge Herman Hutapea announced the verdict after a seven-hour hearing. He faced a possible death sentence.
His lawyer, Suhadi Soemoljono, branded the verdict unfair and said he would appeal. "There was a lot of inappropriate evidence based on intelligence reports which can not be used," he said. "The judge treated this case as if it was a terrorism case."
Indonesia recently passed a decree allowing intelligence reports to be submitted as evidence in terrorism cases.
Guterres said he had been trying to save Indonesia from breaking apart. "I never have regrets about what I did," he said, adding that the former president, BJ Habibie, should stand trial because he authorised the referendum. Despite intimidation by the paramilitary gangs, more than 80 per cent of East Timorese voted to break away from Indonesia.
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