Timor trials in Indonesia may be further postponed
JAKARTA, Jan 7 (AFP) - Indonesia may further postpone the trials of military
and police officers accused of slaughter and forced deportations in East
Timor in 1999, officials indicated Monday.
The trials were scheduled to begin in a new ad-hoc human rights court
on
January 15, Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan said last month.
However the government has yet to approve a list of 30 judges nominated
to
sit on the court, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said.
"A list of judges has been presented by the Supreme Court to the
cabinet.
Discussions are still in process. We hope the appointment of judges will
be
settled," Wirayuda told a press briefing Monday.
"We ourselves are anxious for the first case to (have begun) by
this month so
we'll see," he replied when asked when the trials would begin.
Attorney General Muhammad Abdurachman said state prosecutors were ready
and
waiting for the special human rights court to begin.
"In this matter our general prosecutors are ready. As soon as the
court opens
we will present the cases," he told a media conference.
Wirayuda said preparations were under way, including the training of
prosecutors.
"I myself have participated in the training of potential prosecutors,"
said
the minister, who studied law in the United States.
The Supreme Court judge heading the preparations for the East Timor trials,
Benjamin Mangkudilaga, told the Jakarta Post that he had selected 17 career
judges who "will team up with non-career judges."
Of the 23 suspects originally named in a probe into East Timor crimes
by the
Attorney General's Office, only 19 are being brought to trial.
One suspect, an anti-independence militia leader, was killed shortly
after
being named and another three militiamen suspects have proved too hard
to
locate, prosecutors have said.
Among the 19 to go on trial are four army and police generals, the former
governor of East Timor, three former district police chiefs, two former
mayors in the territory and six middle-ranking soldiers.
Indonesia's Human Rights Commission had originally recommended that 33
people
including the then-armed forces chief, General Wiranto, be put on trial
for
the crimes.
In the months surrounding East Timor's August 1999 vote for independence
pro-Jakarta militia, backed by the Indonesian military, went on a bloody
rampage.
They killed hundreds of people, burned towns to the ground, destroyed
80
percent of the half-island's infrastructure and forced or led more than
a
quarter of a million villagers into Indonesian-ruled West Timor.
More than two years on, Indonesia has prosecuted no one for the crimes.