Reporters Without Borders voiced support today for Glebe deputy coroner Dorelle Pinch after her inquest into the 1975 murders of journalist Brian Peters and four colleagues in East Timor led to a diplomatic incident. A former Indonesian army officer who served in East Timor in 1975 and who is now governor of Jakarta yesterday chose to cut short an official visit to Australia rather than comply with a summons to testify.

"We condemn Governor Sutiyoso's decision to flee rather than testify to the coroner's court," the press freedom organisation said. "Dorelle Pinch must continue her investigation into the killing of the five journalists on 16 October 1975 in the East Timor town of Balibo. There is no reason to keep protecting the Indonesian military indefinitely."

Reporters Without Borders added: "Justice must now prevail, not impunity or diplomatic deals.

What happened in Balibo was a war crime – the physical elimination of people who knew too much about a military invasion that subsequently led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Timorese."

The guest of the New South Wales government, Jakarta governor Sutiyoso was at his Sydney hotel yesterday when a police officer handed him a summons to appear before Pinch's court, located in the Sydney suburb of Glebe. A retired lieutenant-general and possible candidate in the next presidential election, Sutiyoso was asked to testify as a member of the Indonesian brigade that attacked Balibo at the start of the invasion of East Timor.

According to an Indonesian war reporter, Sutiyoso was a member of the special forces that killed the five journalists, although he denies being in Balibo.

In his summing-up, coroner's legal counsel Mark Tedeschi yesterday asked the court to reach a verdict that the deaths of Peters and his four colleagues – who all worked for Australia TV stations – were premeditated murders by the Indonesian armed forces.

Since resuming hearings on 2 May, the inquest has gathered ample evidence, including testimony by new witnesses, to establish that these murders were "war crimes" and to have recourse to international police procedures. The Geneva Conventions concerning the protection of civilians in war time empower the Australian judicial authorities to continue investigating these murders and to punish the perpetrators and their accomplices.

Vincent Brossel Asia - Pacific Desk Reporters Sans Frontieres
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