Also: RT: Jakarta Court Convicts E.Timor Ex-Army Chief
Indonesian Army Genl Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison
JAKARTA,
March 12 (AP)--An Indonesian general was sentenced Wednesday to five
years in jail for failing to prevent two bloody attacks against civilians
during East Timor's break with Indonesia in 1999.
Brig. Gen.
Noer Muis is the highest-ranking Indonesian officer to be
convicted. He is among 18 Indonesian officials and militiamen who have
been
tried for the violence that erupted before and after a U.N.-sponsored
independence referendum on Aug. 30, 1999.
Until now,
the special human rights court in Jakarta has acquitted 12
defendants. Two lower-ranking officers and two civilians have been sentenced
to prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.
Human rights
activists have criticized the trials, saying they were convened
in order to defuse an international drive to set up a U.N. war crimes
trial
for East Timor akin to those for ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
Muis, who
was Indonesia's last military commander in East Timor, was accused
of allowing pro-Jakarta militias in the town of Suai to attack a church
in
which 27 people died on Sept. 6, 1999.
-----------
Jakarta Court Convicts E.Timor Ex-Army Chief
Wed Mar 12, 3:31 AM ET
JAKARTA
(Reuters) - Indonesia's human rights court convicted on Wednesday a
former military chief in East Timor (news - web sites), Brigadier-General
Noer Moeis, of crimes against humanity during the territory's bloody 1999
independence vote.
Moeis, who
took control of Indonesia's 10,000 troops in East Timor two
weeks before the independence vote, is the highest-ranking security
official to be convicted in the trials against 18 suspects.
Prosecutors
had previously told the court that Moeis failed to act on
information about burning enmity between pro-Indonesian and
pro-independence Timorese which had already begun to rack the territory
before his arrival.
"Noer
Moeis...is guilty of carrying out crimes against humanity and is
sentenced to five years jail," presiding judge Adriani Nurdin told
the court.
Prosecutors
had demanded a 10-year jail term for the ex-army chief. The
crime carries the maximum penalty of death.
Moeis, a
colonel when the alleged crimes took place, told reporters he
would appeal.
Two security
officers and two civilians out of 15 suspects to have received
verdicts prior to Moeis have been convicted. Those verdicts are subject
to
appeal.
Prosecutors
had said that while Moeis was not an active perpetrator, he did
nothing to stop the violence by pro-Jakarta militiamen who were backed
by
elements of the Indonesian military.
The militia
groups went on a rampage after the poll in which East Timorese
overwhelmingly voted to break away from Indonesia. The United Nations
(news
- web sites) estimates 1,000 people were killed.
East Timor,
a former Portuguese colony, was run by the U.N. after the
independence vote until May last year when it was declared formally
independent.