Vaudine England, Jakarta – Paramilitary leader Eurico Guterres, notorious for his leadership of the East Timorese Aitarak, or Thorn militia, has been charged with crimes against humanity along with six others.
His case will now join the three already underway in an ad hoc human rights court in Jakarta as part of Indonesia's efforts to fend off international demands for a war crimes tribunal.
Guterres' indictment was expected, due to his inclusion on a list compiled by Indonesian investigators early this year, but is interesting because of his continuing close links with Jakarta's ruling elite.
He leads a paramilitary group connected to President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and is regarded by many Indonesians as a patriot and hero for his role in trying to fend off East Timor's vote for independence in 1999.
The attorney-general's office announced the seven new indictments yesterday, bringing the count to 25 people charged so far. They include the Indonesia-appointed last governor of East Timor, Abilio Soares, and the police and armed forces commanders of the time.
The charges all relate to the massacres and widespread terror inflicted on the East Timorese before and after the UN-administered ballot in August 1999 that led to the full declaration of independence on May 20.
Guterres was a flamboyant leader in the carnage, with primary responsibility for violence in the capital, Dili. With his distinctive long hair and a crowd of armed and aggressive gang members, he was often seen strutting the streets of Dili. A native East Timorese, he saw his father killed by Indonesian troops but became a fervent defender of Indonesian occupation of East Timor.
But analysts and close observers of the rights trials say anyone hoping his indictment might bring an end to his career will be disappointed. Experience from the three cases already underway suggest the Indonesian prosecutors are trying hard not to win their cases, they say.
The first witnesses and victims of the violence were only heard in court last week, after a series of sessions in which the defendants were allowed to state their innocence and blame any wrongdoing on the United Nations instead.
"It's an unusual logic to bring in all the people first who would destroy the prosecutors' case, long before hearing any witness testimony," said a member of a Western embassy's trial monitoring team.
Others believe the most likely outcome of all the trials will be acquittal, despite copious evidence of the violence inflicted by Indonesian troops and Jakarta-backed militias.
This is because the definition of a crime against humanity requires proof of planned, widespread and systematic abuse of human rights. "This issue has not even been touched yet in the trials," said Marcus Mietzner, a Jakarta-based expert on the military.
Court discussion has reduced the violence to an alleged outburst of "rioting" by East Timorese that required the troops and militia to restore calm.
Details of exactly who in Jakarta initiated, guided and funded what appeared to be a well-planned and comprehensive programme of intimidation, terror and killings have been studiously ignored.