10-Years Sentence Sought For 3 Indonesians In E Timor Trial
JAKARTA,
Nov. 14 (AP)--Prosecutors on Thursday sought 10-year jail terms for
three former Indonesian officials charged with crimes against humanity
in
East Timor in 1999. The suggested sentences are the minimum for the charges
under Indonesian law
and will likely further anger rights activists who have complained that
trials for massacres in East Timor have been a sham.
The three
men - army Lt. Col. Asep Kuswani, police Lt. Col. Adios Salova and
district head Leonita Martins - are charged with failing to prevent
pro-Jakarta militias from attacking a church in Liquica on April 6 and
killing at least 22 people. The three are among 18 Indonesian military
and police officials held
responsible for failing to stop at least five massacres in the province
before and after it voted to break away from Indonesian rule.
Six have
already been acquitted of any crimes. Only Abilio Jose Osorio
Soares, the last Indonesian governor of the province, was found guilty
and
sentenced to three years in prison.
The church
massacre was one of a series of bloody incidents that occurred
across the territory before and after a U.N.-organized ballot that resulted
in the independence of the half-island territory. As many as 1,000 people
were killed in the rampage that stopped when international peacekeepers
arrived.
In his demands,
prosecutor Peter Silalahi said the three defendants had been
proven to have committed crimes against humanity for failing to prevent
the
massacre. "Based on that, we suggest this human rights court punish
the defendants each
to 10 years in jail," Silalahi said.
Kuswani
and Salova still serve in the Indonesian military. Martins lives in a
refugee camp in West Timor.
The trial
was adjourned until next week. A verdict in the trial is expected
in one month's time. East Timor gained full independence in May, after
a period of transitional
rule by the United Nations following Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation