Janet Fife-Yeomans, Sydney – The families of five young Australian journalists "executed" by Indonesian forces at Balibo in East Timor called yesterday for the killers to be prosecuted for war crimes.

There was overwhelming evidence the 1975 killings were ordered by Yunus Yosfiah, who went on to become a minister in the Indonesian Government, counsel John Stratton SC told the NSW Coroners Court.

Mr Stratton, in closing submissions on behalf of the family of one of the newsmen, Brian Peters, said the families of all the men wanted 30 years of false history corrected.

The inquest has heard Australian and Indonesian governments maintained the men were killed in crossfire as Indonesia troops invaded East Timor although they knew from intelligence reports it was a lie.

"(Some) appear to have been concerned that the truth would damage relations between Australia and Indonesia," said Mr Stratton.

"The journalists were not killed in crossfire or in the heat of battle. They were executed by Indonesian special forces troops, with the participation of and at the direction of Yunus Yosfiah, with the intention of preventing the journalists from telling their story to the world."

Mr Yosfiah led the Balibo attack. The inquest has heard graphic evidence of how Channel 9 cameraman Mr Peters and reporter Malcolm Rennie, and Channel 7 reporter Greg Shackleton, cameraman Gary Cunningham and sound recordist Tony Stewart died.

Mr Stratton said Mr Peters appeared to have been the first – stabbed and shot as he surrendered with his hands up.

The other four ran into a house where three were shot dead. The fifth hid in a toilet where Indonesian special forces officer Christoforus da Silva beat on the door with the butt of his rifle and threatened to throw in a grenade. When the journalist came out with his hands up, he was stabbed in the back by da Silva.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Mark Tedeschi QC, this week recommended that two people be referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for prosecution on war crimes charges under the Geneva Convention.

Mr Stratton also said the Government should seek the return of the journalists' remains, which were buried in Jakarta without the families' informed consent. "In view of the history of this matter it is utterly offensive to the families of the deceased journalists that they are buried in Indonesia," he said.

Greg Shackleton's widow, Shirley, supported bringing the remains back to Australia. The burned bodies went into the grave "all stuck in one box together", she said outside court.

Mrs Shackleton yesterday addressed the coroner, saying a "policy of decency" had been missing from the Australian Government's handling of the case for 32 years. "No matter how terrible the facts may be, trying to recover from grief is impossible if they're absent," she said.

Deputy State Coroner Dorelle Pinch will hand down her findings on a date to be fixed.