Mark Dodd – Lawyers for East Timor's disgraced former interior minister, Rogerio Lobato, have accused Australian soldiers of breaking international human rights laws when they hauled him from his home last month on charges of gun running.

Documents prepared by Mr Lobato's lawyers and seen by The Australian, deny charges that he conspired to arm pro-government civilians to silence critics of the former Alkatiri government.

The documents, dated July 6, underscore Portuguese government claims of Australian interference in the internal affairs of East Timor during the recent political crisis. Mr Lobato's three foreign lawyers – Paulo Remedios, Francisco Nicolau and Mendonca de Freitas – arrived in Dili from Portugal and Macau on June 28, one week after Mr Lobato was arrested at his Dili residence.

They claim Mr Lobato committed no crime and denounced what they described as human rights abuses, including breaches of the Geneva Conventions, committed against him by the Australian military. The Australian Defence Force last night denied the allegations.

But the lawyers' statement said: "Mr Lobato was taken by physical force from his house (under) arrest without any warrant and any explanation by the Australian troops and taken to the Court of Dili which has been occupied by Australian military men. "At the court Mr Lobato was coerced to make declarations under Australian military vigilance and intimidation."

It also claimed the Australian actions constituted a "violation of international conventions and international criminal procedure". Australian soldiers were accused of mistreating Mr Lobato while he was under arrest by denying him food prepared by his sister after he was arrested.

The ADF spokesman in Dili, Major James Baker, said no formal complaints had been made against the Australian military over its involvement in the Lobato arrest.

"We haven't received any allegations of human rights abuses on this operation," he said. "We would of course work with the authorities in investigating any allegations, were they to be made.

"The (joint taskforce) is already on record in outlining our involvement in the arrest of Mr Lobato, which was limited to providing security for the prosecutor to conduct his duties in safety."

Mr Lobato is accused of arming critics of then prime minister Mari Alkatiri during a surge in unrest earlier this year that forced the deployment of an Australian-led peacekeeping force and ultimately resulted in Dr Alkatiri's resignation last month.

More than 2000 Australian troops and police remain in East Timor but John Howard this week indicated a desire to bring them home as soon as East Timor could manage its own affairs.

Dr Alkatiri was yesterday questioned by the prosecutor-general's office over allegations he authorised the arming of the hit squad given the task of eliminating his rivals. Dr Alkatiri, who did not make any comment to the media, was questioned for about two hours.

The hearing took place amid heavy security. Six tanks were parked on the streets outside and about 20 Australian troops stood guard.

About 50 demonstrators, including opposition party members, rallied outside the office carrying banners and yelling in English: "Alkatiri is a traitor! Alkatiri is a dictator! Alkatiri is a predator!"