An Indonesian court has found three East Timorese militiamen not guilty of murdering a New Zealand peacekeeping soldier in East Timor in July 2000.
Private Leonard Manning, 24, was killed near Suai in East Timor after his patrol came upon a militia group.
"The victim had already died from the bullet from the first defendant, Jacobus Bere, therefore there is no reason whatsoever to accuse the defendants here of having killed or planned to kill as accused by the prosecutor," Judge Iskandar Tjake told the Central Jakarta district court today.
On March 7 Jacobus Bere was separately tried and sentenced to six years in jail for the murder of Private Manning.
The three who were acquitted yesterday - Fabianus Ulu, Yohanes Timo and Gabriel Halenoni Fabianus - had been with Bere in East Timor, allegedly to look for a missing cow, when the murder took place.
Prosecutor Firdaus Deliamar, who had sought 10 years jail for each of the three, told journalists he planned to appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
Feature: Indonesia
CIA World Factbook: Indonesia (with map)
Dept. of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia
Antara news agency
Indonesian Observer
The Jakarta Post
UN Transitional Administration in E Timor
East Timor Action Network
Timorese militiamen found not guilty of Manning's murder
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