East Timor court hears first cases on independence vote violence

A murder suspect stands trial in East Timor on Wednesday

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From staff and wire reports

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Two men appeared in a packed East Timor court on Wednesday to face murder charges in the first cases linked to violence surrounding a 1999 vote for independence from Indonesian rule.

East Timor's threadbare courts were filled to standing-room only capacity as curious onlookers came to see the first suspects to be tried for murders committed during the wave of violence led by pro-Indonesian militias in 1999.

The preliminary hearings herald a breakthrough for East Timorese who have waited two years for justice following the violence in which the U.N. estimates more than 1,000 people were killed and 300,000 herded across the border into Indonesian West Timor.

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"These are the first suspects to go before the serious crimes panel which deal with cases according to a number of criteria. One is that the crime was committed between the first of January and the 25th of October (1999)," spokesman Peter Biro told Reuters by telephone from the East Timor capital, Dili.

Almost 80 percent of East Timorese voted to break from Jakarta's harsh rule on August 30, 1999, in a U.N.-organized ballot that unleashed a wave of violence and destruction by militia gangs backed by elements of the Indonesian military.

The first trials for crimes against humanity involving 11 suspects are due by the end of the month.

U.N.-appointed judges heard two cases Wednesday. In the first, Joao Fernandes, 22, a suspected pro-Indonesia militiaman, is accused of murdering a village chief on September 8, 1999, allegedly upon the orders of an Indonesian military commander.

In the other case, Falintil member Hulio Fernandes, 30, was accused of murdering a militiaman in the township of Gleno on September 26. The case was thrown out of court.

"It's important that the trials start and that justice be brought to the people of East Timor," Biro said. "This is just the start of a series of indictments and hopefully convictions," Biro said.

Lack of evidence slows prosecution

Efforts by East Timor's newly established legal system to bring those responsible to justice have been hampered by a lack of evidence and co-operation from Indonesia.

Mohamed Othman, East Timor's chief prosecutor, said the authorities were grappling with how to deal with key perpetrators of the violence who had fled to Indonesia.

"There are no Indonesian troops here anymore and even the Timorese who were in the TNI (Indonesian military) are not here. ... the U.N. and Indonesia are yet to decide how to deal with these cases," Othman said.

Five Indonesian policemen, including the former police chief of East Timor, have refused to be questioned by a U.N. team which is in Jakarta investigating 22 people connected with the bloodshed.

Trial over killing of U.N. workers to begin

Prosecutors have made some progress has been made in recent weeks.

Two suspects face trial in Indonesia on Thursday for the slaying of three U.N. aid workers in West Timor last September.

The international community has been demanding action over the West Timor killings.

The two are among six East Timorese facing court over the September 6 violence in the border township of Atambua.

East Timor militia leader Eurico Guterres is also on trial in Jakarta for illegal weapons possession. But there is no mention of his role in inciting the rampage that killed hundreds and destroyed most of East Timor's infrastructure.

In fact, supporters are calling Guterres a "hero of the nation" for his role in defending East Timor's integration with Indonesia.

CNN Producer Atika Shubert and Reuters contributed to this report.

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