Prosecutors Demand 10 Yrs Jail For E Timor Militia Leader
JAKARTA,
Oct. 31 (AP)Prosecutors demanded on Thursday a 10-year prison
sentence for Eurico Guterres, a pro-Indonesian militia leader accused
of
crimes against humanity during East Timor's break with Indonesia.
Prosecutor
Muhammad Yusuf said Guterres had caused dozens of deaths by
allowing a paramilitary gang under his command to go on a rampage after
East
Timor's people voted overwhelmingly for independence in a U.N.-sponsored
plebiscite in August 1999.
"The
defendant does not feel guilty and does not regret his actions,"
Yusuf
told the judges as he summed up the prosecution's case.
If convicted,
Guterres would be the second civilian to be sentenced for
crimes against humanity in East Timor. Former governor Abilio Soares was
jailed for three years on similar charges. Prosecutors had demanded ten
years
and six months jail sentence for Soares.
Indonesia
convened the trials earlier this year, following intense
international pressure for those responsible for the violence to be brought
to justice.
However,
several top military and police officials have been cleared of all
charges - sparking intense criticism both at home and abroad.
Brig. Gen.
Timbul Silaen and Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman, Indonesia's last
police and military chiefs in East Timor, were acquitted. Later, another
court cleared a group of two active colonels and two majors in the army
and
police force, along with a retired army colonel.
East Timor,
a former Portuguese colony, first proclaimed independence in
November 1975, after the collapse of the colonial administration.
Indonesia
invaded that year, and at least 100,000 people, mainly civilians,
were killed during the struggle that followed. In 1999, after 80% of the
territory's voters opted for independence, the retreating Indonesian army
and
its militia proxies devastated the region and killed hundreds of civilians.
The territory
gained full independence in May, after a period of transitional
rule by the United Nations.