Top court annuls own decision imprisoning ex-E. Timor Governor

Indonesia's Supreme Court on Thursday annulled its own decision in April to imprison a senior government official on charges of gross human rights violations in East Timor in 1999 when its people voted to separate from
Indonesia.

"A judicial panel decided today to annul this court's verdict that sentenced former East Timor Gov. Abilio Jose Osorio Soares to three years in jail and to accept a judicial review he had filed," Supreme Judge Iskandar Kamil, who presided over the panel, told Kyodo News.

In the judicial review filed by Soares soon after he was sentenced to three years in jail, his lawyers submitted new evidence to show his innocence and to secure his release.

In Indonesia's legal system, a judicial review filed with the Supreme Court is allowed as long as the defendant can show new evidence for his or her case.

Kamil, however, refused to go into details on the Thursday decision, including the reasons behind the court's decision. He said Soares can only walk free after receiving a copy of the decision, which could take a few
months.

Soares has been serving his prison term since July 17 after the Supreme Court on April 1 upheld a decision of the Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal two years ago to sentence him three years in jail.

Soares had been found guilty of "not taking proper actions to prevent violence" from happening before, during and after the 1999 U.N.-organized referendum on self-determination in East Timor.

The alleged violations occurred during a series of attacks against pro-independence East Timorese in the towns of Liquica, Dili and Suai between April and September of 1999, during which more than 100 people were
killed and hundreds more injured.

During the trial in the special human rights court in 2002, state prosecutors had sought a 10-and-a-half-year jail sentence for Soares.

The Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal tried 18 people involved in the East Timor violence, but acquitted most of them, especially military and police officers.

In December 2002, the tribunal handed down a 10-year sentence to feared Aitarak militia leader Eurico Guterres.

Militia groups in East Timor began escalating violence and intimidation against pro-independence people in April 1999 ahead of a U.N.-sponsored referendum on independence Aug. 30 that year.

Soon after the announcement of the referendum results Sept. 4, 1999, the militia groups launched a campaign of violence and destruction across East Timor, which was a Portuguese colony for more than 400 years before being invaded by Indonesia in 1975.

The tiny half-island gained independence May 20, 2002, after more than 24 years under Indonesian occupation and two-and-a-half years under United Nations administration.

Despite some criticism over the fairness of Indonesia's human rights tribunal, East Timor's government has so far ruled out the idea of seeking justice at an international tribunal and has instead made efforts to build
a close relationship with its former occupier and giant neighbor.

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