(9 Jan 2001) Indonesian/Nat
Security was tight on Tuesday as East Timor's notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres faced court in Jakarta.
Guterres' lawyer told the court, his client should be hailed as a "hero to the homeland" rather than charged with weapons offenses.
Guterres is facing trial for allegedly ordering his followers on Sept. 24 last year to take back weapons they had surrendered to the police in Indonesian-controlled West Timor as part of a disarmament program.
"Eurico struggled to defend Indonesia's sovereignty in East Timor," defense lawyer Suhardi Sumomulyono said.
"We reject the prosecutor's allegations. The charges are very weak because Eurico, as a fighter, has to have weapons to defend himself."
About 50 Guterres supporters crowded into the courthouse in Jakarta while a dozen demonstrated outside demanding the defendant's release.
After the trial session, several of Guterres supporters carried him out of the court on their shoulders.
"I am innocent," Guterres told journalists. "I was defending the red and white flag in East Timor."
The colours red and white make up Indonesia's national flag.
At least 200 police officers were deployed around the court.
The trial, which opened on Jan. 2, was adjourned until next Monday.
Guterres' gang, aided by parts of the Indonesian military, destroyed much of East Timor's capital, Dili, in September 1999 after the territory voted in a U.N.-organized ballot to break free of Indonesian rule.
When international peacekeepers arrived to restore order, he and hundreds of other anti-independence fighters fled to West Timor where they seized several border camps and terrorized thousands of refugees from East Timor.
Six other militiamen have also been accused of murdering three U.N. aid workers in West Timor last September.
Their trial started last Thursday in a Jakarta court, but was adjourned because the defendants' lawyers failed to turn up.
The men face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty, said Tumpak Sihombing, a spokesman for the North Jakarta District Court.
SOUNDBITE: (Bahasa Indonesia)
"I'm ready to be punished, even hanged. But what you need to know is the prosecutor's case is fictional. It was the direct order from the President to arrest me under threats of an embargo."
SUPER CAPTION: Eurico Guterres, Former militia leader
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20 июл 2015
