Jakarta general guilty over Timor

Jakarta general guilty over Timor

Noer Muis remains free pending an appeal

An Indonesian general has been sentenced to five years in prison for failing to prevent massacres during East Timor's break with Indonesia in 1999.

The Jakarta court convicted Brigadier General Noer Muis of failing to stop two bloody attacks on civilians.

He is the highest-ranking Indonesian officer to be convicted.

At least 1,000 people were killed when pro-Jakarta militias went on the rampage in East Timor before, during and after the Timorese voted overwhelmingly to break away from Indonesian rule.

Muis, the last Indonesian commander in East Timor, was accused of allowing militias in the town of Suai to attack a church in which 27 people died on 6 September 1999.

Jakarta trials

18 defendants

5 convicted - all free pending appeals

Indonesians convicted: Col. Soejarwo, Police commander Hulman Gultom, Noer Muis - now brigadier general

E Timorese convicted: Former governor Abilio Soares and former militia leader Eurico Guterres

11 acquitted - including former Indonesian police chief in E Timor, Timbo Salaen, and former Indonesian army chief in Dili, Endar Priyanto

2 top army officers still awaiting verdicts

Indonesia's former military chief, Gen. Wiranto, and other top officers never charged

The court also found that Muis stood by on 5 September as 15 civilians were killed at the home of Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Belo.

"The defendant did not kill anyone, but he failed to prevent and stop the attacks," Justice Adriani Nurdin told the human rights court.

Muis, who was a colonel at the time, and had taken control of Indonesia's troops in East Timor only two weeks before the vote for independence took place, has said he tried to prevent the massacres.

He remains free pending an appeal, which under Indonesia's legal system could take months or even years.

"I reject the verdict," Muis told the judges.

"None of the witnesses who were heard in court said that personnel of the TNI (armed forces) were involved in any of the attacks," he told reporters.

He is the fifth person to be convicted over the East Timor violence, out of 18 defendants.

His sentence was lighter than the minimum recommended sentence under Indonesia's human rights law, which is 10 years - the sentence prosecutors had called for.

The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Jakarta said that it is therefore unlikely to satisfy human rights groups, and those who lost loved ones in the 1999 violence.

The Jakarta court, which was set up because of international pressure on Indonesia, has already been criticised by human rights activists for acquitting 11 of the defendants.

Human rights groups say the real perpetrators of the violence were never brought to trial in the first place.

UN-funded prosecutors in East Timor last month issued their own indictments against seven Indonesian officers, including Muis.

Our correspondent said this was largely a symbolic gesture of frustration at the Jakarta trials, as Indonesia has said it will not hand the men over the East Timor.

Two trials are still continuing at the Jakarta court.