INDONESIA: GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO VIOLENCE FOLLOWING LAST YEAR'S INDEPENDENCE VOTE IN EAST TIMOR

Record ID: 644550

  • Title: INDONESIA: GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO VIOLENCE FOLLOWING LAST YEAR'S INDEPENDENCE VOTE IN EAST TIMOR
  • Date: 1st September 2000
  • Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 1, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. SLV CHIEF INVESTIGATOR MUHAMMAD ABDUL RACHMAN ENTERING PRESS CONFERENCE 0.04 2. SCU CAMERAMAN 0.08 3. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) RACHMAN SAYING "The listing of the potential suspects by the team of investigators was based on the strong confidence (over the evidence), not because of international pressure." 0.30 4. MV JOURNALISTS 0.34 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) RACHMAN ANNOUNCING NAMES "Former regional military commander Major-General Adam Damiri, former East Timor military commander Brigadier-General Tono Suratmand and ex-East Timor police chief Brigadier-General Timbul Silaen" 1.35 6. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 1.40 7. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) RACHMAN SAYING "There is still a possibility of naming more suspects into the investigation." 1.52 8. SLV PRESS CONFERENCE 1.56 9. SLV U.N. HEAD OF MISSION IN EAST TIMOR, SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO, SHAKING HANDS WITH INDONESIAN CHIEF POLITICAL AND SECURITY MINISTER SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO 2.04 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DE MELLO SAYING "I think it is a good begininng. I've heard some say it fell short of expectations, it is true but it is also very difficult to fill the glass in the first announcement. For us the glass is half full but will continue to be filled. That is clearly the message I've received from Attorney General Marzuki (Darusman)" 2.32 DILI, EAST TIMOR (FILE) (REUTERS) 11. MV FORMER REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDER MAJOR-GENERAL ADAM DAMIRI 2.37 12. SCU FORMER EAST TIMOR MILITARY COMMANDER BRIGADIER-GENERAL TONO SURATMAN SHAKING HANDS WITH TROOPS 2.45 13. MV FORMER EAST TIMOR POLICE CHIEF BRIGADIER-GENERAL TIMBUL SILAEN WALKING 2.52 14. MV FORMER MILITARY COMMANDER GENERAL WIRANTO MEETING WITH NOBEL LAUREATE BISHOM CARLOS BELO 3.01 JAKARTA, INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 1, 2000) (REUTERS) 15. (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) DE MELLO SAYING: "I am not responsible for the international tribunal, I'm responsible for East Timor. No doubt serious progress in the investigations and indictment of suspected criminals will contribute to arraign the fears of those who would otherwise call for international jurisdiction to be established" 3.25 DILI, EAST TIMOR (FILE) (REUTERS) 16. SLV VIOLENCE FOLLOWING LAST YEAR'S INDEPENDENCE VOTE WITH MEN SETTING LIGHT TO MOTORCYCLE AND CHEERING; SLV VIOLENCE ON STREETS WITH LOCAL PEOPLE ATTACKING MEDIA AS POLICE TRY TO CONTROL SITUATION; SCU BODY OF MAN ON STREET IN LARGE POOL OF BLOOD (5 SHOTS) 4.10 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 16th September 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA/DILI, EAST TIMOR
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Reuters ID: LVAB7TX39DYO5OFR291T44QOZDAQ
  • Story Text: Indonesia has announced it will question 19 people,
    including 3 generals, as suspects in its investigation of
    violence which followed last year's independence vote in East
    Timor.

    An official from the Attorney General's office read out
    the list of suspects on Friday (September 1), but it did not
    include former military chief General Wiranto, who has always
    denied being behind the destruction of the territory.

    Human rights activists insist that Wiranto also had a
    hand in the systematic destruction of East Timor after the
    independence vote.

    Chief investigator Muhammad Abdul Rachman indicated that
    Wiranto was not completely free from becoming a suspect in the
    future.

    "There is still a possibility of naming more suspects
    into the investigation," Rachman said.

    Indonesia has been under strong international pressure
    to put on trial those responsible for the violence or face the
    threat of an international tribunal.

    Rachman however said the naming of suspects was not
    because of international pressure.

    "The listing of the potential suspects by the team of
    investigators was based on the strong confidence (over the
    evidence), not because of international pressure," Rachman
    said.

    The three high-ranking generals were former regional
    military commander Major-General Adam Damiri, former East
    Timor military commander Brigadier-General Tono Suratman, and
    ex-East Timor police chief Brigadier-General Timbul Silaen.

    The United Nations Chief of Mission in East Timor Sergio
    Veiera De Mello said he understood the difficulty of
    prosecuting the criminals responsible for the violence, but
    put his confidence behind Indonesia's probe into the case.

    "I think it is a good begininng. I've heard some say it
    fell short of expectations, it is true but it is also very
    difficult to fill the glass in the first announcement. For us
    the glass is half full but will continue to be filled. That is
    clearly the message I've received from Attorney General
    Marzuki (Darusman)," De Mello said.

    All 19 suspects will be questioned from September 5. The
    Attorney-General's office said the possibility of naming more
    suspects in the investigation remains open.

    Hundreds were killed, most of the population displaced
    and the bulk of the buildings in the territory destroyed when
    pro-Jakarta gangs, backed by Indonesia's military, rampaged
    after the result of the vote was announced last September.

    It marked the end of 23 years of often brutal military
    rule by Indonesia in the former Portuguese colony.

    Retired general Wiranto, who has denied being involved,
    was sacked earlier this year by President Abdurrahman Wahid as
    part of the Moslem cleric's efforts to sideline the military
    from politics.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register