Received from Joyo Indonesia News Indonesian Army Officer Faces 10 Yr Jail For Timor Crimes

JAKARTA, Dec. 12 (AP)--Indonesian prosecutors on Thursday demanded a 10-year jail term for a senior army intelligence officer, the minimum sentence by law if he is found guilty as charged of crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999.

Lt. Col. Yayat Sudradjat is accused of failing to stop his subordinates joining an attack on a church packed with pro-independence supporters in Liquica on April 6, 1999, in which 22 people were killed.

"The defendant failed to prevent gross human rights violation happening...and could not control his subordinates effectively," state prosecutor Jefrin told Indonesia's human rights court.

Sudradjat is one of 18 Indonesian officials charged over the violence that swept across East Timor before and after the territory broke from Indonesia in August 1999 in United Nations-sponsored ballot.

So far, seven Indonesian officers have been cleared of all charges.

Only two of the accused, the province's former governor and a notorious militia leader sentenced to 10 years in prison, have been found guilty. Both are East Timorese civilians.

Local and international human rights groups have described the trials as a sham.

Nearly 2,000 civilians were believed killed and 250,000 forced to flee their homes when Indonesian troops and their militia proxies launched a campaign of terror aimed at forcing people to vote for continued integration with Jakarta.

East Timor gained full independence in May, after a period of transitional rule by the United Nations following Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation.

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