NZ SAS secrecy stalls abuse hearing

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

New Zealand military chiefs are refusing to order an SAS soldier to testify against an Australian comrade-in-arms charged with abusing the bodies of Timorese militiamen.

It is understood this is because the Australian Defence Force is unable or unwilling to guarantee the anonymity of New Zealand soldiers to the satisfaction of this country's military. The Australians will not allow them to testify under pseudonyms, as insisted on by the New Zealand Defence Force under its policy of protecting the identity of SAS members.

A senior Australian SAS man was to have faced a military court in Sydney tomorrow charged with kicking the bodies of two militiamen killed in a shootout at Suai in East Timor on October 6, 1999.

He was hailed by his colleagues as a hero in the battle and is believed to have been the soldier who shot the pair dead after a convoy of UN forces came under fire.

Two UN soldiers were seriously hurt and New Zealand soldiers stationed nearby arrived to treat the wounded, leading to a commendation for one Kiwi medic.

But the Age newspaper in Melbourne has learned that the transtasman impasse led to the collapse of the prosecution case after a three-year ADF investigation.

This included the exhumation of bodies from mass graves for examination by members of a UN serious crimes unit, and inquiries in Britain and New Zealand as well as East Timor and Australia.

The Age understands the prosecution will offer no evidence when the case is called.

Australian military sources said all seven key witnesses against the accused were serving or former members of the New Zealand armed forces.

The sources said that in interviews with the defendant's lawyers, some witnesses disputed versions of events attributed to them in their statements.

This has left just one witness of potential value to the prosecution.

A pre-trial hearing was told that without New Zealand witnesses, there was no substantial case against the Australian.

New Zealand Defence Force spokesman Warren Inkster said New Zealand had co-operated fully with the Australian military in its investigations and had offered to make witnesses available for any resulting disciplinary action.

But he said that was "subject to our normal policy of maintaining anonymity for our special forces personnel".