Macau – Three leaders of the Movement for the Reunification and Unity of the People of East Timor (MRUPTL) have been subpoenaed by the Indonesian police to be interrogated on Thursday.

The head of MRUPTL, Manuel Carrascalao, told Lusa on Wednesday, that he had been one of the leaders subpoenaed by the Indonesian authorities, together with the vice-president and secretary-general of MRUPTL, Maria Quintao and Francisco de Carvalho, respectively.

He said that the subpoena could represent "an attempt to block our participation in the coming Timorese Convention" to be held in Portugal on 23 April.

Carrascalao said that if the Indonesian authorities decided to present formal charges "we will not be allowed to leave Dili".

Jakarta has been seeking proves showing that the three MRUPTL leaders "have been fomenting hate or have betrayed the government of the Republic of Indonesia", especially through "the sending of documents to governments from other countries".

The MRUPTL that supports the self-determination of East Timor was created in October 1997, but in January the local governor Abilio Osorio Soares decided to ban all the movement's activities.