Jakarta – The highest-ranking Indonesian officer implicated in a wave of violence that swept East Timor in 1999 defended its former police chief on Thursday, telling a court he had saved the lives of thousands of UN personnel.

The high-profile trial is widely seen by the international community as a test of whether Jakarta is serious in bringing to book those responsible for the carnage that erupted when the tiny territory voted to split from Indonesia.

Army Major-General Adam Damiri also told the judges that East Timor's Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Belo owed his life to the head of the police after groups of machete-wielding militia attacked his home.

"I did not see nor hear that [Timor police chief] Timbul Silaen let it happen. If there is such indication, I think 4,000 UNAMET members would have never gone home," Damiri said, referring to the UN mission that administered the August 30, 1999, vote.

"I received reports that Bishop Belo and the refugees were saved ... if the military and police did not act probably the bishop would be dead right now," the officer said.

Silaen is charged with crimes against humanity for allowing the gangs, many supported by Indonesia's military, to kill pro-independence East Timorese on four separate occasions.

The United Nations estimates 1,000 people were killed by pro-Jakarta militias before and after the independence vote that ended 24 years of often brutal Indonesian rule.

Former East Timor governor Abilio Soares is also charged with crimes against humanity but his case was not heard on Thursday as an expected witness did not turn up. The trial of both men was adjourned until April 18.