Subject: LUSA: Resistance say reduction in
Gusmao"s prison sentence is "ridiculous"
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 09:35:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Sharon R.A. Scharfe" <pet@web.net>18 AGO 98 - 11:34 East
Timor/Australia: Resistance leaders say reduction in Gusmao"s prison sentence is
"ridiculous"
Sydney, 18 Aug (Lusa) - East Timorese reisistance leaders in Australia have described
the four-month reduction in Xanana Gusmao's 20-year jail term as "ridiculous".
East Timorese representatives taking part in the current FRETILIN National Conference in
Sydney said on Monday that Indonesia was "playing wtih serious things" when
announcing the small reduction in Gusmao's prison term. Mau-Hodu, a representative of
FRETILIN's central committee, told Lusa in Sydney that the people of East Timor "do
not need handouts" from Indonesia. Hodu said the unconditional release of Gusmao was
the "only solution" to the situation, adding Indonesia's decision to grant a
four-month reduction in Gusmao's prison term was "ridiculous".
Mar Alkatiri, foreign relations secretary of FRETILIN, said that Indonesian President
B.J. Habibie continued to be a "prisoner of the old regime". Joao Carrascalao,
president of the Democratic Timorese Union (UDT), said the reduction in Gumao's prison
sentence "makes no sense at all", stressing that Gusmao's release from prison
was the "only solution".
Lusa/Fim
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