East Timor militia leader guilty of massacre

By KATHY MARKS

East Timor's most infamous former militia leader, Eurico Guterres, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for his part in the massacre of 12 people before the independence ballot three years ago.

Guterres, who led the feared Aitarak militia, was found guilty of crimes against humanity by a human rights court set up to hear cases relating to the violence that swept the former Indonesian province in 1999.

The 10-year sentence had been demanded by prosecutors, but Indonesia's legal system allows Guterres to remain free pending an appeal to the Supreme Court, which could take years.

He had led an attack on the Dili home of pro-independence activist Manuel Carrascalao, in which 12 people were killed, including Carrascalao's 16-year-old son.

The court was established by Indonesia after international pressure to bring the perpetrators of the East Timor atrocities to justice, and its decision on Guterres was seen as a test of the country's credibility.

The court, which delivered its first verdicts in August, was bitterly criticised after it acquitted six people - East Timor's former police chief and five Army officers - and sentenced former governor Abilio Soares to just three years in jail.

Guterres, 29, rejected the verdict. Surrounded by supporters who had booed when he was convicted, he said: "I will not accept the judge's decision even for one day or one hour, because what I did was for Indonesia."

At least 1000 civilians were killed when militias, armed and organised by the Indonesian military, went on the rampage before, during and after the ballot.

- INDEPENDENT

Herald feature: Indonesia and East Timor