Indonesia Military Officer Gets 5 Yrs For E Timor Crimes
JAKARTA,
Dec. 27 (AP)--A court Friday sentenced a senior military commander
to five years imprisonment for human rights violations during East Timor's
break from Jakarta in 1999, the first time an Indonesian security official
has been convicted over the violence.
Lt. Col.
Soejarwo, who headed the military command in the East Timorese
capital Dili, was found guilty of failing to prevent pro-Jakarta militias
attacking the Dili Diocese and the house of Bishop Ximenes Belo on Sept.
5
and Sept. 6. At least 15 people were killed in the attacks.
"The
defendant has been found guilty of committing grave human rights
violations," said Judge Andi Samsam Nganro when handing down the
sentence.
Soejarwo,
who goes by a single name, immediately said he would appeal the
verdict - something that allows him to stay free until the Supreme Court
rules on his case.
He is one
of 18 officials charged over the violence. Ten of them have been
cleared of all charges, prompting local and international human rights
groups
to describe the trials as a sham.
He the is first Indonesian military official to be convicted.
Earlier
trials found East Timor's former provincial governor and a notorious
militia leader guilty. They were sentenced to three and 10 years
respectively. Both are East Timorese natives.
Soejarwo said nothing to reporters when he left the courthouse.
Prosecutors
had demanded a 10-year sentence. Under Indonesian law, he could
have been sentenced to death.
Up until
Friday's verdict, observers had predicted that all the military
defendants would be acquitted, saying powerful commanders would never
allow
their men to be jailed.
The outcomes
of the trials could complicate Washington's drive to renew ties
with the Indonesian military, which were cut to protest the East Timor
violence.
Cooperation
with security forces in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim
nation, is considered essential in the campaign against terrorism in
Southeast Asia. The Bush administration has demanded full accountability
for
the bloodshed before it reengages with the military.
Nearly 2,000
civilians were believed killed and 250,000 forced to flee their
homes when Indonesian troops and their militia proxies launched a campaign
of
terror before and after an independence referendum.
East Timor
gained full independence in May, after a period of transitional
rule by the United Nations following Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation.