Hunger strike

Wednesday, June 2, 1993 - 10:00

Hunger strike

Reliable sources in East Timor have confirmed that Xanana is on a hunger strike in prison in Dili. The sources said Xanana is ill but has not been visited by anyone, including the Red Cross.

Jose Ramos-Horta, the special representative of the National Council of Maubere Resistance, said he was "deeply worried" about Xanana's well-being.

In Australia, film maker Gil Scrine is among those who have written to foreign minister Gareth Evans urging Australian government action in support of Xanana.

"If Xanana dies in Indonesian custody", wrote Scrine, "his death will be on the conscience of all in the Western world who have stood by over the last 18 years and coldly watched the tragedy of Indonesian occupation of East Timor go on unabated."

From GLW issue 102