East Timor: over 30 indictments handed down for serious crimes, UN reports
9 January - East Timor's General Prosecutor has issued more than 30
indictments in cases involving major incidents of mass killings and forced
deportation, according to the latest figures released by the United
Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).
Through its Serious Crimes Unit, the Office of the General Prosecutor
is
investigating and prosecuting crimes against humanity - including
individual offences of murder, rape, torture and other offences -
committed in the territory between 1 January and 25 October 1999, UNTAET
said today in Dili.
So far, 33 indictments on serious crimes cases - 11 of which are crimes
against humanity cases - have been issued concerning 83 alleged
perpetrators. Twenty-one persons have already been tried and convicted.
Meanwhile, a senior Norwegian law enforcement official, Siri Frigaard,
has
taken over as the head of the Unit at a time when special consideration
is
being given to refugee returns, including former militia members who are
suspected of committing acts of violence in 1999, UNTAET said. The Unit
has recently reorganized itself so that prosecutors lead their
investigations in the districts in order to address requests for
investigations from local communities.
Mrs. Frigaard, who has taken leave from her position as Director for the
Regional Public Prosecutor's Office of Oslo, will also fill the post of
Deputy General Prosecutor for Serious Crimes. She previously served as
special legal adviser to the General Prosecutor of Albania and has
represented Norway in the Baltic Sea Cooperation concerning international
legal aid.