Soldiers cleared of Timor charges

last updated 8 January 2015

Jakarta

An Indonesian court this week overturned the convictions of four top military officers charged with violating human rights in East Timor in 1999. Western governments and human rights activists have long charged that the Indonesian military backed militias that killed hundreds in East Timor after the province voted to secede from Indonesia. The court found that there was no evidence that the military took part in the killings and other abuses. The U.S. and other Western governments said the ruling was a whitewash, but Indonesia dismissed the criticism. “We are not using other countries’ processes,” said military spokesman Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsuddin. “This is sovereignty of our law.”