A UN-backed tribunal in East Timor issued an arrest warrant for Indonesian presidential candidate Wiranto for crimes against humanity in the territory in 1999. Wiranto maintained his innocence and said continuing "rumours" about his legal status were "character assassination."
Indonesia also rejected the warrant and the Dili government said it would work with the ex-general if he wins the July 5 election, for which he is the candidate for Indonesia's largest party Golkar. Wiranto was Jakarta's military chief when army-backed militiamen waged a murderous campaign against independence supporters in East Timor, then an Indonesian territory. Some 1,400 people were murdered before and after East Timorese voted in August 1999 for independence. About 200,000 people were deported to Indonesian West Timor and about 70 percent of all buildings in the territory were destroyed. After a US judge at East Timor's Special Panel for Serious Crimes issued the warrant, Wiranto said he has done nothing wrong. "I am clean ... I have never been brought to court, never become an accused," he told reporters in Surabaya.
Indonesia reiterated its previous refusal to hand anyone over for trial. "We absolutely do not need to follow up the arrest warrant issued by the Timor Leste (East Timor) special crimes unit. For us, we do not recognize the term 'extra-territoriality' so it is not valid for Indonesia," said foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa. He said Indonesia had its own human rights court looking into charges of crimes against humanity in East Timor. "And clearly Mr. Wiranto absolutely has never been charged by that court." The Jakarta court acquitted 12 out of 18 defendants and was described by rights groups as largely a sham. |