Text of a report by Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias web site on 13 May

Timorese suspected of crimes against humanity could be in Portugal - report

A former Timorese militiaman accused of crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999 could be living in Portugal, a judiciary source in the East Timor's capital Dili told [news agency] Lusa yesterday [Thursday 12 May].

Floriano da Silva, aka Floriano "Dato Meta", features in a list of 77 people wanted by Interpol [International Criminal Police Organization] and is one of 303 suspects outside the jurisdiction of the UN-administered
Serious Crimes Investigation Unit [SCIU, created by the former UNTAET, United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor], which is the body responsible for investigating and prosecuting cases of crimes committed in East Timor between January and October 1999 [when the East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia in a UN-sponsored referendum, after which the Indonesian National Army and pro-Indonesian militias began a campaign of violence and arson, killing an estimated 1,400 people and forcing about 500,000 to flee their homes].

According to the same source, of the 1,400 killings carried out by the pro-Indonesia militias and Jakarta's troops, only 700 were investigated by the UN. Among the 303 accused who are yet to appear before a court is
former General Wiranto, the Indonesian Armed Forces and Security chief in 1999 [when the atrocities were committed].

[Editor's note: Indonesia set up a special human rights court in 2000, but has so far refused to extradite those accused of responsibility for the massacres. Of 18 people it has tried in its own courts, 17 have been acquitted and one is still free while his case is being appealed. ]

Source: Diario de Noticias web site, Lisbon, in Portuguese 13 May 05