Suai Church massacre resumes in Jakarta
JSMP/IPJET, Jakarta 25/3/02---The trial relating to the attack on the Ave Maria Church in Suai on 6 September 1999 continued on Monday before the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court in Jakarta.
The five accused, one police commander and four TNI officers are all charged for not preventing the attack, and their legal representatives responded in length on the indictment against their clients read out by the prosecutors in court last week.
The defenders strongly contested the jurisdiction of the court and, claimed that according to Law 26/2000 East Timor is not under the jurisdiction of the court. The defenders also stated that it was a violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia to apply criminal law retroactively.
The two defence teams, which consisted of in all 19 lawyers, furthermore said the indictment was premature and incorrect. They claimed their clients were victims of political interference, and that the prosecutors had not acted objectively by bowing to international pressure in their work.
The accused Colonel Herman Sedyono, 54, former Covalima district government chief; Colonel Lilik Kushardianto, 49, the former district military commander in Covalima; Major Ahmad Syamsuddin, 37, head of the general staff of the Covalima military command; and Captain Sugito, 49, former Suai town military commander were all present in court.
A large group of one and two star Indonesian generals and their wives occupied the two front rows of the public gallery, allegedly to show support to the defendants.
The trial was adjourned to Tuesday 2 April in order to give the prosecution time to prepare a response to the defence statement.
In another trial related to the 1999 violence in East Timor, the second panel of the court will make a preliminary decision on Thursday 28 March on issues of jurisdiction which may be relevant also for the Suai Church trial.
-----------The Judicial System Monitoring Programme ---------------------