Dili – An East Timorese court Wednesday sentenced two pro-Indonesian militia leaders to eight and 12 years in prison for murdering five independence supporters during the country's bloody break from Jakarta rule in 1999.

The convictions bring to 34 the number of people – most of them militiamen – brought to justice in East Timor over the violence that accompanied the United Nations-supervised independence ballot.

Benjamin Sarmento was convicted of four counts of murder, and was sentenced to 12 years, while Romeiro Tilman was found guilty on one count. He received eight years.

Earlier sessions of the court had heard that all the victims were known independence supporters and that the murders took place in central East Timor between April and September 1999. It was not immediately clear whether the two men would appeal.

Violence surrounding the UN-sponsored independence vote left up to 1,500 East Timorese dead and most of the country's infrastructure destroyed. Witnesses said Indonesia's military and local government organized much of bloodshed through militia proxies it created to intimidate independence supporters.

Under international pressure to punish those responsible for the violence, Indonesia last year agreed to try 18 senior police and military officials in a special human rights tribunal.

However, the court in Jakarta has so far acquitted 12 suspects and convicted five – all of whom are free pending appeals – leading to charges by human rights activists that the trials were a sham.