SERIOUS CRIMES UNIT: INFORMATION RELEASE
SCU:
Crimes against Humanity Indictment Charges Indonesian Aitarak Militia
Commander Beny Ludji and Aitarak Members With Murder
On 4 June
2003 the Acting Deputy General Prosecutor for Serious Crimes
filed two new indictments with the Special Panel for Serious Crimes at
Dili
District Court in Timor Leste.
The indictments
charge 1 Indonesian former Aitarak militia company
commander and 2 East Timorese former Aitarak militia members with murder
as
a Crime against Humanity. The three accused are charged with the murder
of
an active campaigner for independence, Guido Alves Correia, at his home
in
Mascarinhas, Dili on 1 September 1999. The Aitarak company commander and
one other accused militia member are expected to stand trial before the
Special Panel for Serious Crimes in the near future.
The indictments
allege that during 1999 as part of a widespread or
systematic attack against the civilian population, armed Aitarak militia
members from Company A conducted daily and night patrols through the
Mascarinhas and Caicoli areas of Dili under the command and control of
Beny
Ludji, the Aitarak Company A Commander. During such patrols Ludji was
armed
with a gun and had made threats to kill Independence supporters including
specific threats to kill Guido Alves Correia who was a CNRT Independence
campaigner.
It is alleged
that on the night of 1 September 1999, Ludji and Aitarak
militia members under his command attacked the house of Guido Alves
Correia. One Aitarak militia member, Jose Lopes da Cruz Mendonca (aka
Jose
"Fahiten") threw a spear at Correia hitting him in the back.
Aitarak
militia members including Jose Pereira chased Correia who fell to the
ground. It is alleged that the victim was hacked to death by Aitarak
militia members. Ludji ordered the militia members to bring the body of
Correia to the house of Ludji. The body was taken from the house of Ludji
to Tasitolu on the outskirts of Dili by Ludji and other Aitarak militia
members and buried in a shallow grave.
Two of the
accused men, Beny Ludji and Jose Pereira are currently in
detention in Timor Leste following their recent arrest in Timor Leste.
It
is expected that they will stand trial before the Special Panel for Serious
Crimes in Dili District Court in the near future. The third accused, Jose
Lopes da Cruz Mendonca, is believed to be in the Republic of Indonesia.
This is
the first time that an Indonesian national present in Timor Leste
has been charged for crimes committed in 1999 by the Office of the Deputy
General Prosecutor for Serious Crimes. Until now, 32 Indonesian nationals
have been indicted for Crimes against Humanity in Timor Leste including
28
Indonesian TNI military officers, 3 Indonesian Chiefs of Police and an
Indonesian District Administrator who are all believed to be at large
in
the Republic of Indonesia.
5 June 2003