Peter Lloyd, staff – East Timor says the Australian Government knew it would call upon the testimony of four whistleblowers in its dispute regarding a $40 billion oil and gas treaty.

Delegates from both nations are at The Hague for the first hearing before the International Court of Arbitration, with claims Australia installed bugging devices inside the Timorese cabinet room so it could spy during the negotiations in 2004.

At a preliminary meeting in The Hague two weeks ago, the Timorese revealed to the Australian delegation that they intended to call on the testimony of four whistleblowers to support their case.

East Timor says they told the Government of the whistleblowers as an act of good faith. East Timor believes the disclosure may have prompted raids earlier this week that saw the detention of one whistleblower and the confiscation of key evidence.

The Timorese are now questioning whether or not Attorney-General George Brandis's account of the raids, in which he claimed ASIO approached him and said there was a potential risk to national security, can be supported.

They claim the Attorney-General acted on the basis of information obtained in the normal arbitration process, and they believe these raids should not have taken place.

They are also seeking legal advice to find out whether they can try and overturn the raids and the seizure of documents under the search warrants and have them returned to their owners.

The Timorese have also revealed that at a second preliminary hearing one week ago, the Australian Government agreed not to arrest the whistleblowers before the case was heard when they were abroad. However, they specifically said nothing about arresting them in Australia.

Team arrives at The Hague without key witness

East Timor's team at the international court of arbitration includes the country's ambassador to the UK, Joaquim da Fonseca, and Australian lawyer Bernard Collaery, whose office was raided by Australian intelligence agencies on Tuesday.

The whistleblower arrested on Wednesday – a former ASIS agent – had his passport cancelled, meaning he cannot journey to The Hague to give evidence before the tribunal.

However, Mr Collaery has suggested that they could bring the three-party tribunal hearing to Australia, or evidence could be presented via phone or video link.

Mystery surrounds the identity of the other witnesses, but they are presumed to be the operatives involved in the 2004 bugging operation.

Mr da Fonseca emerged from arbitration talks at The Hague saying it is unfortunate they are happening against the backdrop of current tensions between Australia and East Timor.

However, he says both parties are proceeding with the arbitration in good faith and he is confident in East Timor's case before the tribunal.

Protests in East Timor over raids

Meanwhile, around 100 protesters in East Timor have thrown rocks at the Australian embassy and police responded with tear gas.

The protesters, mostly students and young Timorese rights activists, carried banners reading: "Australia is a thief" and "Australia has no morals".

The demonstrators, calling themselves the Movement Against Timor Sea Occupation, shouted: "Australia, imperialist, capitalist!" and "Australia is a thief of world oil".

"The Australian leaders do not respect the people of Timor-Leste because it's very small, very poor," the group's spokesman Juvinal Dias told AFP.

The embassy was guarded with just four police until a dozen more arrived and fired tear gas at demonstrators, saying they had no permit to protest. Timorese snubbed as they tried to re-open negotiations

The Timorese have also revealed that a year ago their prime minister wrote to then prime minister Julia Gillard stating that they had reservations about the treaty and that they wished to re-open negotiations.

However, they received no response. At a subsequent meeting established between the two countries in London, the Australian delegates did not turn up.

Also, at a follow-up meeting arranged in Bangkok later that year only junior members of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade attended, but had no instructions on what to say to the Timorese.

All of this was happening while Australia was trying to get a seat on the UN Security Council with the support of the Timorese.

The Timorese insist that the treaty they signed includes clauses that state if there is a dispute about the treaty then the two parties should try and resolve the issues through fair means. (ABC/wires)