Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A Chinese-Malaysian businessman who won a case of illegal arrest against East Timorese police has been re-arrested and jailed within 24 hours of the court decision.
The case of Wong Kee Jin, a scrap merchant who has worked in Dili since 2001, won national attention after Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri went to his scrapyard on February 19 and ordered his arrest.
No warrant was issued, and United Nations police later ordered East Timorese officers to free him for lack of evidence. The Government has since closed his business.
On Thursday judge Carmelita Moniz upheld Wong's claim of illegal arrest. He testified that he had been kicked by one of the Prime Minister's bodyguards, who called him "monkey". His court victory opened the way for a civil action against the police and the bodyguard.
He was re-arrested at dawn yesterday on charges of illegal export of scrap metal. About 12 police dragged him from his bedroom in a Dili hotel in handcuffs.
Prosecutor Longuinhos Monteiro said he was aware UN legal officers had met several times over the case. "Why should they treat Wong as a special case?" he asked, "the UN is here to support the East Timorese, not bandits. I will make sure that this guy faces justice in this country." He said investigators had strong evidence against Wong, but that his company should not have been closed down.
Wong was being held in a grubby three-metre-square cell shared with three Timorese youths. He showed The Age welts on his wrists from the handcuffs. "There is no evidence against me," he said. He will spend the weekend in jail after lawyer Benevides Correia Barros lost a bid for an early court hearing.
Opposition parties have said the case is an abuse of power. There have been allegations that rival commercial interests are behind Wong's troubles.
The Dili business registry shows that Scrap Metal, a rival company headed by Jose Galucho, was registered in January. It is reportedly linked to the pro-Government Veterans Association.
Before Wong's first arrest, Industry Minister Cesar Moreira had written to the company granting it an exclusive franchise to salvage scrap metal, although Timorese law forbids monopolies.