Ex-Timor governor starts sentence

By Rachel Harvey
BBC correspondent in Jakarta

Abilio Soares says he is being made a scapegoat

A former governor of East Timor convicted of human rights abuses has begun serving his prison sentence in Jakarta, a day later than scheduled.

Abilio Soares failed to report to the attorney general on Friday - but after a further summons he has now complied.

He was found guilty in 2002 of failing to prevent violence during East Timor's transition to independence in 1999.

Mr Soares says he is being made a scapegoat while top security officials have been allowed to go free.

Mr Soares has become the first person convicted by Indonesia's special human rights tribunal to go to prison for his crimes.

But it has taken almost two years.

Disappointment

After the failure of his appeal, Indonesia's supreme court ordered Mr Soares to begin serving his three-year sentence in a Jakarta jail on 16 July.

The deadline came and went. Mr Soares was at home in Indonesian West Timor, a six-hour flight away.

The prosecutor's office contacted him and made clear that if he failed to comply with the summons Mr Soares would be taken by force.

Speaking to the BBC as he signed his prison papers, Mr Soares said he was deeply disappointed but not angry.

"I've sacrificed so much for my country," he said, "now I feel I'm the one being sacrificed."

He went on to say that searching for justice in Indonesia was like looking for fresh water in a desert.

Many victims of the violence which swept East Timor during its vote for independence from Jakarta would certainly agree with that.