East Timorese youth face death penalty

East Timorese youth face death penalty

By Jon Land

Indonesian authorities have announced that they will charge two East Timorese youths with subversion. Police arrested Constancio Costa dos Santos and Paulo Jorge Pereira in a ferry on Dili Harbour on September 15 and allege that the pair were carrying home-made bombs and other arms. If convicted, they could be executed.

An Indonesian official quoted in the October 27 Suara Karya said that the two were still being interrogated at regional police headquarters in Dili and that a date for their trial had not been set.

Suara Karya reported that preparations were also under way for seven trials involving 18 Timorese men accused of involvement in an ambush of a police truck near Baucau on May 31. They are likely to be charged with subversion.

The Suharto regime has also demanded that the Austrian government hand over two of a group of six East Timorese who have been sheltering at the Austrian embassy since September 19. The two have been accused of being involved in making bombs found in Dili and the central Java city of Semarang.

In other developments, Nobel Peace Laureate Bishop Belo has called for the release of all Timorese political prisoners and for the reduction of Indonesian troop numbers in East Timor.

Speaking at the UN-sponsored All-Inclusive Intra-East Timorese Dialogue, which ran from October 21 to 23 in Krambach, Austria, Belo called on the UN to guarantee to the East Timorese "the freedom to express [themselves] freely and openly without having to suffer consequences".

A letter read out to the meeting, from the leader of the armed resistance, Konis Santana, demanded the withdrawal of Indonesian troops and called for economic and political sanctions against Indonesia.

From GLW issue 296