East
Timor Judge Rejects Bid for Court Hearing on Indonesian General
DILI, A judge
in East Timor has refused a request for a public hearing into alleged
war crimes by a former Indonesian general who is now seeking his
country's presidency.
United Nations-funded
prosecutors had asked Judge Phillip Rapoza to hear their application
for an arrest warrant for Wiranto, Indonesia's military chief during
East Timor's bloody breakaway from Jakarta in 1999.
But Rapoza, in
a ruling delivered Wednesday and made public Thursday, said the
proposed hearing was not rovided for under local and international
law and would be "a trial in all but name."
Prosecutors indicted
Wiranto for crimes against humanity almost one year ago, along with
six other senior Indonesian officers and the territory's then-governor.
Only one arrest
warrant has so far been granted and last month top prosecutor Longuinhos
Monteiro accused judges of foot-dragging.
An estimated
1,000 people died in a savage intimidation campaign waged by Indonesian
military-backed local militias when East Timorese voted for independence
in August 1999.
The East Timor
court, known as the Special Panel for Serious Crimes, is the only
tribunal of its kind.
Indonesia set
up its own special court but rights groups described it as largely
a sham. Jakarta refuses to hand over anyone who has been indicted
in East Timor.
Prosecutor Monteiro's
deputy Nicholas Koumjian, like Rapoza a US citizen, asked the judge
on January 28 for a public hearing on the arrest warrant.
Koumjian said
it was the most transparent way to deal with an issue of worldwide
interest and could be the only chance for victims to explain how
they suffered.
Wiranto, who
is planning to run in Indonesia's first direct presidential elections
in July, could send a lawyer or testify by video-link if he feared
being arrested, he said.
Prosecutors accuse
the general of failing to punish or prevent crimes committed by
those under his control. He says he did his best to prevent bloodshed.
However Rapoza
said establishing a criminal procedure for Wiranto alone "violates
basic principles of the rule of law."
The judge gave Koumjian 30 days to submit any extra evidence.
