East Timor Won�t Annul Warrant East Timor President Xanana Gusmao, who met with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri in Bali on Saturday, said his government could not annul the arrest warrant for Wiranto but would do nothing to �carry it out�.
The warrant, issued by East Timor�s Serious Crimes Unit (SCU) on May 10, accuses Wiranto of individual criminal responsibility - under the doctrine of command responsibility - for the �crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and deportation�. A brief issued in support of the warrant states that Wiranto had the ability to control the Indonesian military�s murderous militia proxies in East Timor but failed to do so. Wiranto has denied any wrongdoing and claims he tried to stop the violence. Read the whole news: Wiranto Demands End to Criticism May 18, 2004 11:38 PM, Laksamana.Net - Back in the bad old days of former dictator Suharto�s New Order regime, vocal human rights activists and proponents of free speech could simply be rounded up and jailed or tortured, but no longer � and former military chief Wiranto is not happy with a barrage of criticism against his presidential bid. "Anti-military and anti-New Order campaigns, as well as propaganda on human rights violations should be halted," he was quoted as saying Tuesday (18/5/04) by state news agency Antara. Wiranto will contest the July 5 presidential election as the candidate of Golkar Party, the former political vehicle of Suharto. The retired four-star general accused his political rivals of orchestrating a recent series of �negative campaigns� against him in an effort tarnish his image and thwart his presidential bid. He declined to mention any names but warned his rivals to cease such �unfair� actions. Students staged massive street rallies in Jakarta earlier this month to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the May 12, 1998, slaughter of four student protesters at Trisakti University by members of the armed forces. They also demanded the masterminds of the May 13-15, 1998, deadly mass riots in Jakarta be brought to justice. Official human rights investigators have concluded that senior elements of the military and police were involved in masterminding the riots, but the notoriously corrupt Attorney General�s Office has been extremely reluctant to follow-up such findings. At many of last week�s rallies, students urged the public not to vote for Wiranto or other retired generals contesting the upcoming the election. They also demanded a thorough investigation into the military�s slaughter of 24 civilians at separate pro-democracy rallies in Semanggi in Jakarta in November 1998 and September 1999. Wiranto, who has been indicted by a United Nations-backed court in East Timor for crimes against humanity in the former Indonesian province in 1999, claimed he had evidence that an �official political figure� had funded the student demonstrations against him. "The meeting to prepare the student rallies of last May 12 was held at his official residence," Wiranto told a national leadership meeting of the Central Organization for All-Indonesian Workers (Soksi). Soksi is one of three mass organizations that founded Golkar in 1963 to counter the Indonesian Communist Party. Asked whether he would file a lawsuit against the "political figure" who had allegedly organized the rallies in commemoration of the slain students, Wiranto said he had not yet thought that far. But the retired general said he had evidence of the planning and preparations for the rallies, including data on the budget for the student protests. He further said he could name those who were involved in the recent demonstrations. He also asserted that an arrest warrant issued against him by East Timor prosecutors was part of the plot to damage his reputation. "It's true, everything is by design. I know who visited Dili [the capital of East Timor] before the issuance of the arrest warrant," he said, without mentioning any names. Although he was unwilling to elaborate on his allegations, a document elaborating his claims was circulated among journalists. The document states a meeting was held in South Jakarta on May 6 at the Widya Chandra housing complex of state officials to plan the rallies commemorating the Trisakti killings. Participants also allegedly discussed tactics to reject Wiranto�s presidential bid by accusing him of responsibility for human rights violations in the cases of Trisakti, Semanggi and East Timor. According to the document, 43 students from 26 organizations participated in the meeting. Each organization allegedly received about Rp16 million ($1,780) to mobilize 200 students for the rallies. Some of the funds were allegedly used to charter 156 MetroMini buses to transport the students. One of the 43 students named in the document, Adian Napitupulu, denied the meeting had been attended by any state officials. "But could not civilian movements, such as students, non-government organizations or certain other groups hold a gathering?" he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal. �This is not only appropriate, but obligatory. Civilians must oppose militarism,� he said. "If the military can consolidate groups such as Pepabri [the Retired Military Officers Association] to support a military presidential candidate, why shouldn�t civilians meet to oppose the military�s candidate?" he added. Asked whether the contents of the document were true, and who had written and disseminated it, Napitupulu simply replied: �Wallahu alam [God knows best].� Analysts said Wiranto�s condemnation of the opposition to his presidential bid could end up backfiring on him. Political analyst Bachtiar Effendi of the University of Indonesia said Wiranto was only trying to attract public support and lacked sufficient hard evidence to name any of his rivals allegedly seeking to discredit him. He pointed out that former president Abdurrahman �Gus Dur� Wahid had a few days ago similarly accused two �government officials� of masterminding a plot to block his presidential bid. "There are two officials behind the effort and one of them is now travelling abroad. I will not mention their names but you [journalists] must know who they are," Wahid said on Saturday. Effendi said the claims by Wahid and Wiranto should not be taken seriously if they were unable to name the figures allegedly plotting against them. �This need not to be responded to seriously. Most these issues will be forgotten within a day or two,� he was quoted as saying by detikcom. �These are only games that Indonesian politicians play within the atmosphere of the campaign. They will make use of methods that could win public sympathy in an effort to increase their support,� he added. Effendi said Wahid and Wiranto probably fear being charged with slander if they publicly accuse any state officials of plotting against them without strong proof. He said the unproven allegations made by the two presidential candidates would at least give swing voters a greater insight into their characters. �There are leaders who like to dismiss things and make abstract statements verging on tendentious slander. Do we really want to be led by politicians like that?� he said. East Timor Won�t Annul Warrant East Timor President Xanana Gusmao, who met with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri in Bali on Saturday, said his government could not annul the arrest warrant for Wiranto but would do nothing to �carry it out�. The warrant, issued by East Timor�s Serious Crimes Unit (SCU) on May 10, accuses Wiranto of individual criminal responsibility - under the doctrine of command responsibility - for the �crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and deportation�. A brief issued in support of the warrant states that Wiranto had the ability to control the Indonesian military�s murderous militia proxies in East Timor but failed to do so. Wiranto has denied any wrongdoing and claims he tried to stop the violence. http://www.laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=2&news_id=7045 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Domains � Claim yours for only $14.70/year http://smallbusiness.promotions.yahoo.com/offer ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. 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