Associated Press
March 9, 2004

Indonesia Supreme Crt Clears Officers Of E Timor Violence

JAKARTA (AP)--Indonesia's Supreme Court upheld the acquittals of four military officers and a policeman on charges of human rights crimes in East Timor, a court official said Tuesday.

The verdict will likely dismay rights activists, who have long criticized Indonesian efforts to punish those responsible for the rampage by Indonesian troops and militia gangs when East Timor voted for independence in 1999. The violence left more than 1,000 dead.

Under international pressure to punish those responsible, Indonesia brought to trial 18 middle and high-ranking security officials in 2002 and 2003. Only six were found guilty, and all remain free on appeal.

The five officers were all found innocent in a lower court of charges they allowed their men to take part in the violence, but prosecutors had appealed to the Supreme Court.

A Supreme Court official said judges ruled last week there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the original verdicts.

"It means that the cases are now closed," the official said.

The rulings bring to six the number of Indonesian officials cleared by the Supreme Court in connection with the violence.

Prosecutors weren't immediately available for comment.

Defense lawyers for those officials found guilty in the violence are also appealing to the Supreme Court. Verdicts in those cases have yet to be announced.

East Timor, which gained full independence in 2002, has not aggressively backed calls for Indonesian officials to be put on trial for the violence, saying ties with its giant neighbor are more important.