JUSTICE UPDATE ,
Period: 10-21 November
Issue 14/2004

Trial Hearings Before the Baucau District Court

The Baucau District Court has recommenced its activities with the arrival of international court staff. The Court now holds hearings on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The judge, the prosecutor and the court clerk are all internationals. Timorese private lawyers provide the defence. Since all internationals are Portuguese speakers, there is an interpreter of Tetum/Portuguese. The functioning of the Court has improved considerably since it restarted its work. Apart from holding hearings on a regular basis, there is now a monthly trial schedule available to the public. Furthermore, a Timorese court clerk sits with the international court clerk throughout the hearings in order to improve his professional skills. In the past two weeks, there were several questionings carried out before the Prosecution and the Court conducted four trial hearings, three of which concerned violence against women. Two other trial hearings had to be postponed because the accused were not present.

Suspects in pre-trial detention in the Police station of Baucau

Over the past few weeks there was growing concern over a number of suspects that were being held at the police station of Baucau, allegedly without having been brought before a judge. Although the general belief was that these suspects had all been arrested following the bus accident that occurred on the road to Baucau, it appears that in reality there have been arrests from two separate incidents. JSMP tried to contact the Baucau police in three separate occasions regarding the detention of these suspects but was never able to obtain any information.

On 27 October a group of young men armed with machetes attacked a car with three women, causing them severe injuries and stealing over one thousand dollars. Eight suspects were arrested and brought before a judge within the 72 hours hearing who decided to keep all of them on pre-trial detention.

On 28 October, following a bus accident, the Baucau judge issued an arrest warrant against one suspect. This suspect had allegedly had a fight with the driver of the bus causing the vehicle to crash and the deaths of seven of the passengers on the bus. The Court had no knowledge of any other suspects involved in this incident nor if the suspect against whom the warrant was issued has already been apprehended by the police. Local NGOs informed JSMP that the suspect was in the hospital after having been shot nine times in the leg by the police. JSMP was unable to ascertain the date these events occurred. JSMP is aware that four other suspects were arrested and detained without warrant by the police and that on 11 November, following a request for a habeas corpus filed by a Public Defender the four suspects were all released. A review hearing was scheduled for the 23 November in the Dili District Court and the suspect who had been in the hospital was brought to Dili. This hearing was adjourned following tensions created in court between families of the victims and the suspect.

According to Section 20.1 UNTAET Regulation 2000/30, a suspect must within 72 hours of arrest be brought before an investigating judge. The purpose of this hearing is to review the lawfulness of the arrest and detention and for the judge to decide whether to:

1. Confirm the arrest and order the detention of the suspect
2. Order substitute restrictive measures
3. Order the release of the suspect

If the police fails to bring a suspect before a judge within the 72 hours limit, the continued detention is unlawful because it contravenes Section 20.1 and the suspect is entitled to file a habeas corpus requesting immediate release.

Mariano Amaral – Case No. 10/9/2004

Mariano Amaral is facing charges of assault for allegedly having attacked a woman with a machete in August 2003. The preliminary hearing was conducted on 10 November. At the hearing, both the Prosecution and the Defence declared not to have any motions to file. The Defence further declared not to have any witnesses. The accused chose to give statement about the facts of the case. The Court decided to proceed immediately to the trial hearing. The Court read the facts to the defendant who admitted to have been drunk when he attacked the victim and to have given her five buffalos as damages. The Court showed photographs of the injuries of the victim to the accused, to the Defence and to the Prosecution and asked the accused whether those were the injuries he had inflicted to the victim. The accused confirmed he had been the responsible for the injuries. The Court considered the statement of the accused to constitute an admission of guilt for the purposes of Section 29A of Regulation 2000/30 but considered it was equally necessary to call the victim to give statement before concluding the trial hearing. The Court scheduled the continuation of this hearing for 26 January 2005.

Luis Correia Guterres Case No. 15/PID.S/2003/PD.BCU

Luis Correia is accused of battering his wife causing her external injuries. At the trial hearing the accused admitted to have slapped his wife after her refusal to go work on the rice fields but denied having kicked or punched her. Following the incident, the accused’s wife went to live with her parents and never returned to the couple’s house. When confronted with the medical report which stated the victim suffered trauma in the face, neck and back, the accused denied that to be true and insisted the report was a lie. The Defence did not question the accused and when it attempted to make a reference to the customs of East Timor to explain the incident, the Judge interrupted him and did not allow him to go on with that argument. The trial hearing is due to continue on the 25 November to hear the victim’s evidence.

Domingos Vital, Case No. 19/PID.S/2003/PD.BCU

In the Domingos Vital case, the accused is charged with rape of his sixteen year old daughter. Due to the fact the victim is a minor and that the charges involve rape, the trial hearing was closed to public. Neither the victim nor the Defence lawyer were present at the time the hearing was due to start. The police were ordered to collect the victim from school and shortly after she arrived the hearing started. Just a few minutes before the beginning of the trial hearing, and in the absence of the defence lawyer, the Court appointed another lawyer, who was given the indictment when the court actors were already in the courtroom.

Carlito Boavida Case No. 07/PID.S/2004/PD.BCU

Carlito Boavida is accused of manslaughter for allegedly having killed a man when driving a truck in August 2003. The death appears to have occurred when the truck was going up a hill having then slipped and hit the victim who was behind the truck. The accused alleges not to have seen the victim and that the road to have many stones, which caused the vehicle to fall back. A witness who was on the truck at the time supported this version of the events. The Defence did not ask any questions to the defendant but asked to present a witness. The hearing was adjourned to 2 December.

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