E.Timor may force election

Dili, Sep 18, 2009 - East Timor's opposition threatened on Friday to force an early election in an escalating row with the government over the release of an Indonesian militia leader accused of crimes against humanity.

Fretilin party spokesman Jose Teixeira told AFP the party will 'seriously consider' pulling out of parliament if a motion to censure the government of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao is not passed by parliament.

Fretilin, which controls 21 of the parliament's 65 seats, submitted the motion on Monday over the Gusmao government's decision last month to release militia leader Martenus Bere.

'We can't continue to be a part of what has become a violation of law,' Mr Teixeira said.

'If the censure does not go through, we can't see any way out,' he said, adding the withdrawal of Fretilin's MPs would be enough to automatically force an election.

Bere was arrested after crossing into East Timor on August 8, five years after being indicted for his role in a string of human rights violations including the 1999 Suai church massacre in which up to 200 people were killed.

The United Nations' human rights representative in East Timor on Tuesday criticised government 'interference' in freeing the militia leader. But Gusmao and President Jose Ramos-Horta have said reconciliation with giant neighbour Indonesia is more important than dwelling on past abuses.

At least 100,000 people were estimated to have died during Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor, which ended with bloody violence surrounding a 1999 UN-backed independence vote. (AFP)

WALK OUT OF TIMOR-LESTE PARLIAMENT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VICTIMS

Frente Revolucionária do Timor-Leste Independente (FRETILIN)
MEDIA RELEASE

Dili, 7 September 2009

A walkout by FRETILIN MPs today brought the Timor-Leste parliament to a halt, for lack of quorum. The MPs walked out in protest at decision of the Gusmao de facto government to free the militia leader, Martenus Bere, who is alleged to be responsible for the murder, abduction, rape, deportation and persecution of many Timorese in Suai during the violence in 1999.

One of Bere’s alleged victims was a young girl called Alola – the very person form whom Kirsty Sword Gusmao, the wife of the Prime Minister, named her charitable foundation for the women of Timor Leste.

Speaking to journalist after the walkout in Dili today, FRETILIN leader, Aniceto Guterres, said that it was also an act of solidarity for victims whose rights had been trampled by the release of Bere. Mr Guterres headed a human rights advocacy organization during the Indonesian occupation.

“This time their hypocrisy was too much,” said Guterres. “After this violation of domestic and international law, they had the audacity to send their Foreign Affairs Minister to the parliament to discuss the proposed draft law on Treaties and Conventions? It all seemed too cruel a charade for us to partake in, when it is clear that they have no intention on abiding by international laws and norms. When it is very clear that they have no respect for the rule of law or the principle of separation of powers.

“The victims of the violence in 1999 have had their constitutional rights to justice trampled all over. They are still thirsting for justice. The sentiment displayed by the victions and their families since the release of this militia leader has been remarkable. One of the victims listed in the indictment of Bere is Juliana dos Santos , also known as Alola. The Prime Minister’s wife, Kirsty Sword Gusmao named the ALOLA Foundation after her. There are many other victims who want this man to face justice for the terror he heaped on people. Now it looks highly unlikely that he will,” Guterres said.

Alola’s father Manuel Soares was reported by Agence France Press on 6 September 2009 saying, “For the victims, everything is ruined and broken. I came here today to get away from the feeling.”

AFP further reports him saying angrily, “We want justice, but it never happens. They release all the criminals and all the people who were involved in the killings. If the government or the UN dared enough, they could go and arrest the militias,” adding, "They are all liars. They just talk and make promises. All the organizations who claim they help victims, they are just talking and talking.”

Mr Guterres expressed astonishment that the parties in the government coalition today showed so little support for calling the government to account for this scandalous decision. “Government MPs complained about other mundane issues instead. Only one MP inadequately defended their actions saying that it had to be done to maintain stability in Timor-Leste. Another said that unless Bere was released there could have been persecution of Timorese students in West Timor .

“We don’t believe that Indonesia could not have guaranteed the safety of Timorese living in Indonesia . There was no support from these MPs for the rights of victims and their families. We believe our walk-out was an appropriate act of solidarity for justice for the victims of violence in our country,” Guterres said in closing.

For further information, please contact Jose Teixeira MP on +670 728 7080

SEARCH Foundation, http://www.search.org.au
Level 3, 110 Kippax St, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia, Ph: +61 2 9211 4164; Fax: +61 2 9211 1407, ABN 63 050 096 976

EAST TIMOR'S MARI ALKATIRI RECALLS TURBULENT DECADE

August 29, 2009/The Jakarta Globe

Ezki Suyanto

As East Timorese celebrate the 10th anniversary of the referendum that led to the country’s independence, the Jakarta Globe presents contributor Ezki Suyanto’s interview with the nation’s first prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, 59, at his residence in Farol, Dili, at the end of last month.

When you stepped down in 2006, you said there had been intervention from outside. What did you mean?

I have no doubt. I still have no doubt. It’s clear to me that there was a conspiracy. It started in mid-2005 when the Australian media began to damage my image. The Australian government at that time was really a conservative government.

It was clear that they were aware that after 2006, with oil and gas revenues, I could do much better for this country. So this had to be stopped and they succeeded in getting sympathy and support from inside the country, even from Xanana [Gusmao]. The crisis was an internal confrontation between the prime minister and the president of the republic.

The president and the police were against the government because he failed to get support from the F-FDTL (Timor Leste Defense Forces, also known as Falintil) which also covers the police.

Is it the reason you say you do not want to be prime minister anymore?

A strong government needs a strong political party behind it. So it would be much better to have the leader of the party working full time for the party then to be too busy in the government. It does not mean that I won’t help the government, of course I’ll do it. I have made it clear to the central committee that I am not ready to go back, that the party needs to be strong.

Fretelin is the majority party and has a simple majority in Parliament with 29 percent of the seats. Why isn’t Fretilin in power?

It is a very peculiar situation in this country, in which some people do not respect the will of the people. The leaders think that they are stronger than the will of the people.

Leaders like Xanana Gusmao and Ramos-Horta think they are stars who will be stars all the time.

Recently, you initiated a referendum for another election. Why?

I made the suggestion. We will introduce a bill for discussion at the Parliament. This is constitutional. We cannot just sit and do nothing until (election year) 2012. We do not recognize the legitimacy of the government, but above all the situation is very bad, particularly in the economy, and corruption is everywhere.

Even though we are pushing for an early election, we have to do it through legal and constitutional means. You cannot really repeat the 2006 scenario, using violence as a tool for political gain. We need to put an end to this culture of violence, to have peace and a culture of democracy.

We have been doing campaigns and we go to grassroots meetings, spreading this message: no more violence. We need to respect our constitution and our laws.

Ten years after the referendum and seven years after independence, what is your reflection on East Timor?

Up and down. We started on the right path but had a lot of problems. People are unaware that development takes time. Combatting poverty cannot just be done overnight, and we had to face the crisis in 2006.

The mistakes are not of those at the grassroots level, but of the leadership. Some leaders dream they can do better in a short time, and that is the reason we really had to face the crisis. Now, we are regressing, particularly in institution-building as people start to dismantle everything that had been carefully constructed.

Now, we have to face a lot of problems, such as rampant corruption, for the simple reason that the system that was built has been really destroyed by the current government. We got our independence, but we could have done much better, particularly two or three years afterward when we got money from oil and gas resources.

How long will East Timor depend on the international community?

The United Nations can stay here for not more than another two years, but for foreign troops and police, it is time to leave. We needed them in 2006 when troops and police were in conflict. If you have the army on one side and police on the other, you cannot do anything.

I invited foreign troops to come, but now there is no longer such confrontation, so it’s time for them to leave. Some police and army trainers can stay.

There’s still a long way to go in developing this country, yet you have refused loans from groups such as the International Monetary Fund. Why?

I was always aware that sooner or later we would have revenue from oil and gas, so what are the loans for? It would only generate corruption. A state is like a big company. You need to improve the quality of your administration.

East Timor/TRIALS BEGIN OVER 2008 HORTA-GUSMAO “ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT”

18 july julio 2009/World Socialist Web Site http://www.wsws.org/

By Patrick O’Connor

Dual East Timorese and Australian citizen Angelita Pires is now on trial, facing a series of charges relating to last year’s so-called assassination and coup attempt against the country’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and President Jose Ramos-Horta. The court, which convened last Monday, has heard the prosecution allege that Pires is guilty of attempted murder and conspiring to kill the president on the grounds that she was the “indirect author” of these events.

Initial proceedings have underscored the numerous unanswered contradictions and far-reaching political interests involved in the events of February 11, 2008.

The official account, first promoted by the Timorese government and the Australian media and now advanced by Pires’s prosecutors, is that Alfredo Reinado—Pires’s partner and former military-police commander—had led his men in an unsuccessful coup attempt and was killed after attacking Ramos-Horta and his security detail. Along with Pires, 23 ex-soldiers and 4 of their associates, including Reinado’s senior colleague Gastao Salsinha, are on trial. President Ramos-Horta has suggested that he may pardon the men. (Tem piada, não tem?)

The official account is unsupported by the evidence and believed by virtually no-one in East Timor. Based on what is now known, it is almost certain that Reinado and his men were lured into Dili, after being told they had an appointment for a discussion with Ramos-Horta, in order to be executed. The World Socialist Web Site was alone in raising this possibility immediately after the February 11 events.

Pires has rejected the charges laid against her. Her Australian barrister Jon Tippett, QC has said that the trial highlights the disastrous state of the Timorese legal system, which he described as “one of the most substantial failures that the United Nations has ever engaged in”.

Pires’s legal team received access to the prosecution’s voluminous files just days before the trial opened, rather than the months normally granted to allow adequate preparation. “I’m very concerned about it being a fair trial,” Tippett told the ABC, “because I’ve now had complete access to 25 volumes of the prosecution case and there is no substantive evidence or properly admissible evidence that could possibly support any of the charges that have been brought against her. Now in those circumstances I would expect any responsible prosecuting authority to withdraw these charges against her at the earliest opportunity. The fact that the case is still going to trial gives me concern that this is not a legal case, it’s a political case.”

Significantly, Tippett has indicated that he intends to prove Pires’s innocence by demonstrating that Reinado was killed after attending what he believed was a meeting arranged with Ramos-Horta. “The evidence seems to point to a different story to the one which people have been receiving through the media and certainly from sources in the government of Timor-Leste to date,” the lawyer told Timorese newspaper Tempo Semanal. “The [real] story seems to be one of Reinado coming to meet the president and in the course of that event he’s shot at extremely close range ... in what appears to be an assassination.”

Prosecutors last week attempted to have Tippett and Pires’s other senior counsel, Brazilian Zeni Arndt, thrown out of court on the grounds of their alleged lack of standing in Timor’s legal system. The two lawyers were told to sit in the viewing gallery for part of the first day’s proceedings, but the presiding judge ultimately decided to permit them to participate.
Pires’s defence lawyers have said they may call 150 witnesses, likely resulting in court proceedings lasting several months.

The trial has the potential to prove highly damaging to both the Timorese and Australian governments. The immediate questions raised by the charge that Reinado was set up for assassination is: who was responsible and what was the motivation? In line with the legal adage cui bono?—who benefits—suspicion must firstly fall upon forces around Gusmao as well as Australian personnel in Dili and Canberra.

Reinado, Gusmao, and the Australian governmentBorn in 1967, Reinado fled Indonesian-occupied East Timor for Australia in 1995. He returned during the country’s transition to formal independence and joined the newly created armed forces; from 2003 to 2005 he spent several months studying and training with the Australian army in Canberra. Then in May 2006, as commander of a platoon of military police, Reinado and his men joined the mutiny of a section of the army known as the “petitioners”, who had rebelled against the Fretilin government led by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

The exact circumstances leading up to the split in the military remain unclear, but there is evidence suggesting that then President Xanana Gusmao was centrally involved in preparing the provocation as a means of destabilising the Alkatiri administration. Gusmao had been openly siding with the most right-wing sections of the Timorese elite, who were opposed to the Fretilin government—including former Indonesian militia members, criminal gangs, larger landowners, and the powerful Catholic Church.

The Australian government was also a leading participant. It seized upon the petitioners’ uprising to dispatch more than one thousand Australian and New Zealand soldiers to the impoverished state as part of a calculated regime-change operation. The media played an especially foul role, with the ABC’s “Four Corners” program promoting baseless accusations that the prime minister had formed a hit squad to assassinate his opponents. Alkatiri eventually acquiesced to the pressure, and chose to hand over power in June rather than risk a popular movement against the coup plotters developing beyond Fretilin’s control.

Reinado enjoyed close relations with both Gusmao and the Australian forces. After he had taken up arms against the elected government, and killed several security force personnel in a vicious ambush in Dili, Gusmao wrote Reinado a friendly letter encouraging him to withdraw his men from the capital. The president subsequently paid for Reinado’s hotel bill when the soldier stayed in the central town of Ailieu for six weeks. During this time the “rebel” held talks with high-ranking Australian military personnel and was feted in the Australian media as a “folk hero” heading a popular movement against the government.

What followed was a series of murky episodes that pointed to the close ties between Reinado and Australian military and intelligence personnel. In July 2006, Portuguese police arrested the former soldier in a Dili house, which he had used to store weapons and which was located directly opposite an Australian military base. A few weeks later Reinado was somehow able to walk out of a prison that Australian and New Zealand troops were responsible for guarding. In March 2007, shortly after a proposed deal on Reinado’s surrender—negotiated with Gusmao and Ramos-Horta—fell through, the Australian government deployed 100 elite SAS troops to lead a raid on Reinado’s base in the central mountain town of Same. The former major was again somehow able to evade detention, walking away from the clash unscathed. Later, after Gusmao and Ramos-Horta called off the official manhunt, Reinado and the Australian army exchanged information about each other’s movements—using Angelita Pires as the go-between.

The turning point in Reinado’s various manoeuvres came in January 2008, when he released a DVD accusing Gusmao of being behind the 2006 crisis, and threatened to provide additional details in future statements. Reinado’s damning allegation, apparently triggered by a breakdown in negotiations with Gusmao over the terms of his surrender, exacerbated the crisis of the prime minister’s unstable coalition government.

On February 7 last year, President Ramos-Horta convened a meeting of parliamentarians from both government and opposition parties to announce his support for Fretilin’s demand for new elections, which Gusmao was bitterly resisting. Canberra no doubt also viewed with extreme alarm the prospect of another national vote, having expended significant resources, firstly in ousting Alkatiri in 2006, and then in assisting the coming to power of the Gusmao government through the 2007 parliamentary elections held under Australian military occupation.

Ramos-Horta scheduled further discussions on the question of a fresh election—but these were never held. Reinado was killed just four days after the initial meeting. His death fortuitously eclipsed the threat that Gusmao’s true tole in the 2006 crisis would emerge. Moreover, Gusmao seized on the so-called coup attempt to announce a “state of siege”, under which he assumed sweeping authoritarian powers. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd meanwhile rushed to dispatch another 190 soldiers and federal police, bolstering the increasingly unpopular Australian occupation force.

There was, therefore, ample reason for both Gusmao and Canberra to want Reinado eliminated. On the other hand, no-one has ever provided a plausible explanation as to why Reinado would want to kill Ramos-Horta. Certainly prosecutors in the Pires trial have so far provided no motive. The president had visited Reinado in mid-January and agreed to a secret amnesty deal that would see the former major avoid imprisonment in return for surrendering his arms and returning to Dili. Ramos-Horta, in other words, was Reinado’s best—and last—hope of securing his freedom.

Prosecution contradictions: There are countless outstanding questions regarding the events of February 11. How did Reinado and his men avoid detection by Australian troops and police as they travelled as an armed convoy up to President Ramos-Horta’s residence? Did Australian intelligence agencies have prior knowledge of what has being planned, given that Reinado made dozens of mobile phone calls, including to Australia and Indonesia, in the days before his death? Did the alleged ambush on Gusmao’s vehicle, led by Reinado’s associate Gastao Salsinha, actually take place, or was it a staged fraud, as Fretilin leader Mari Alkatiri has alleged?

A full and comprehensive account of what happened may never emerge; critical evidence was deliberately sabotaged in the aftermath of Reinado’s shooting. The bodies of Reinado and Leopoldino Exposto were moved and tampered with by Timorese police and soldiers, Reinado’s clothing was removed, his mobile phone used, and his weapon interfered with. The rifle used to shoot Reinado and Leopoldino from point-blank range has never been properly examined.
The prosecution’s case has already begun to unravel, after just five days of court proceedings.
Reinado’s fellow “rebel”, Marcelo Caetano is accused of shooting President Ramos-Horta. This is despite Ramos-Horta himself previously telling the media that Caetano was not responsible. “Marcelo Caetano was wrongly accused,” the president told the Age in October last year. “I never said it was him. It was a media beat-up.”

This “media beat-up” is now the central pivot upon which the prosecution apparently hopes to build its case. Two of Ramos-Horta’s guards testified this week that the gunman who shot Ramos-Horta was wearing a balaclava at the time. One, Pedro Soares, said he could not identify the man because his face was hidden, but the other, Isaac da Silva, insisted that the attacker was definitely Caetano and that he recognised him, “from the way he was standing and his attitude”. Lawyers for the accused noted that da Silva’s testimony contradicted his earlier statement to investigators in which he said that he had not recognised the gunman. Also unexplained is the contradiction between the prosecution’s charge that Ramos-Horta’s attacker was wearing a balaclava with the president’s statement, again made to the Age last year, that he had seen the gunman’s “face and eyes” immediately before the shooting.

Ramos-Horta, who has issued numerous statements against Pires in the lead up to the trial, is now remaining silent.

Judiciary under attack in Timor–Leste

Frente Revolucionária do Timor-Leste Independente (FRETILIN)

Media Release, December 2, 2008

Timor-Leste's de facto government last week stepped up its assault on the judiciary by blocking the reappointment of a senior judge who ruled against key budget measures last month.

The Superior Council for the Judiciary, a formerly independent but now politicised commission that oversees the functioning and composition of the judiciary, decided on 13 November 2008 not to renew the contract of Portuguese judge Ivo Rosa. This was the same day Judge Rosa published the Court of Appeal's decision declaring a large part of the Gusmao government's 2008 budget unlawful and unconstitutional.

Judge Rosa is one of three foreign judges recruited by the United Nations to serve alongside seven Timorese judges in Timor-Leste.

He was one of three Court of Appeal judges who unanimously ruled on November 13 that:

a) The government's creation of a so-called Economic Stabilization Fund was unconstitutional in that it was equivalent to creating a "secret fund" which is expressly prohibited by the constitution, and
b) Parliament's attempt to transfer more than US$290 million from the National Petroleum Fund was illegal as it breached key aspects of the law mandating sustainable use of petroleum revenue.

Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and the President of the National Parliament, Fernando "Lasama" de Araujo have publicly criticised the judgement and foreign judges in particular. In the days following the court's ruling Mr de Araujo was reported on the national state-owned television broadcaster as having said that it was "time the government brought the Court of Appeal into line."

The decision not to reappoint Judge Rosa was taken to and initiated in the Superior Council for the Judiciary by the Council's interim head, Dionisio Babo Soares. Mr Soares is Secretary General of Xanana Gusmao's CNRT party and was national campaign director for the CNRT during last year's elections. He is currently an advisor in the Deputy Prime Minister's office.

FRETILIN MP and spokesperson Jose Teixeira, an Australian-trained lawyer, said today he had never seen such a blatant act of political interference with the Timor-Leste judiciary.

"Dionisio Babo Soares is a political operative with no judicial training or experience, and, while holding some legal qualifications, has never practiced as a lawyer. The Superior Council has only one of four members who is a judge. Yet he and the Council are passing judgement on the performance of a judge with well over ten years experience," Teixeira said.

"Soares may have extremely limited professional experience with the law, but he does have a proven track record of taking riding instructions from Prime Minister Gusmao. This decision that he was instrumental in is proof of that. All our information indicates that this is so.

"The involvement of such a prominent party-political figure in this decision is basis enough for FRETILIN to challenge its soundness and legality."

Teixeira said the de facto government took advantage of the absence of Judge Claudio Ximenes, the President of the Court of Appeal, who is in Lisbon receiving medical treatment, to rush to get rid of Judge Rosa.

"The writing has been on the wall for some time now. We knew there would be moves on the judges involved in the budget decision, especially Judges Rosa and Ximenes. The de facto Prime Minister and the President of the Parliament have voiced their public displeasure with the decision. Now we see the result of their displeasure."

Teixeira said the decision also involved another member of the Superior Council, Cirilio Valadares, who is currently advisor in the Office of Prime Minister Gusmao.

"The de facto government, having stacked the Superior Council for the Judiciary with its political operatives, is now expected to move against Judge Ximenes and install a judiciary favourable to their administration," Teixeira said.

"How will we ever be able to enforce laws in this country with this type of political interference and disregard for the rule of law, the courts and the constitution? From our point of view this is only the tip of the iceberg, and the independence of our judiciary is under a genuine and unprecedented threat."

For information contact José Teixeira MP (now in Australia) 0438 114 960
Source: Timor Online

Timor-Leste/FRETILIN MPs denounce threats by Prime Minister

Frente Revolucionária do Timor-Leste Independente (FRETILIN)

Media Release
Dili, 3 October 2008

On September 28, 2008, Timor Leste's de facto Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, declared in Ainaro that a proposed 'March of Peace' sponsored by the largest party in the parliament, FRETILIN, would be crushed when it arrived in Dili. FRETILIN's leadership denounced this threat as illegal and dictatorial, in a media conference in Dili yesterday.

The Prime Minister's threat was also broadcast nationwide on radio and television. His exact words were: "I hear that you from here are preparing a March of Peace to Dili. I will wait for you there, and put you all in jail!"

FRETILIN President Francisco (Lu Olo) Guterres said, "I and many who heard those threatening words simply wish to ask why Mr Gusmao feels the need to threaten people who wish to demonstrate their political conviction and express their constitutional rights to undertake a march with totally peaceful intentions, to show peace, with a spirit of democracy.

Why are they the subject of threats from our nation's leaders to 'put you in jail'?"

"I remind Mr Gusmao that according to our Constitution, in a state under the rule of law, it's not he who 'puts people in jail'", said Mr Guterres. "In a democratic state under the rule of law, only a court of law can 'put people in jail' and then only if it is proven in a court that they have breached the law. But it is certainly not the Prime Minister, or even the President or a Liurai (traditional feudal King) who can just do so because that is his wish. Not even the Army or the Police or the UN Police can jail anyone without a court order or warrant, and then only if the law is being broken.

"Only in a dictatorship like the old Portuguese Colonial dictatorship and the Suharto regime can a Prime Minister simply jail people without a trial as he wishes. But not in a sovereign, constitutional and democratic Timor-Leste," declared Guterres.

Clause 42 of the Constitution of the RDTL gives everyone the freedom and right to demonstrate within the law. Timor-Leste has ratified the UN Charter and Conventions that also guarantee these rights and freedoms.

According to Guterres, the people persistently demand the Peace March to affirm Peace and Democracy and Justice in the country. "It is a March that, when it happens, will be peaceful, in a spirit of democracy, respecting the rights of other citizens and the law and all State institutions," he said.

"The planned Peace March by FRETILIN, its allies and communities, will be done to take this country in a better direction, not as our history shows, especially in 2006, to mobilize people to take this country in a worse direction.

"We ask all relevant State institutions to assure that those participating in a lawful Peace March will be able to so exercise their rights and freedoms without threats of incarceration, and especially call on the police to protect them as they do so," Guterres insisted.

"We ask the State, especially the government, not to politicise the police against the people who wish to march in the planned March of Peace, because we also heard last Saturday the de facto Prime Minister in Ainaro say that 'I have told the police that I will not permit any small group to lie to the people'. FRETILIN is not a small group of people, but whether the group is large or small, we all have a right to lawfully carry on our political activities," said Guterres.

He argued that the people feel the need to reaffirm a democratic state under the rule of law because in just one year the country had fallen more and more towards a dictatorship, with increasing breaches of human rights.

Guterres noted the arrest and beating of journalists, and the arrest without warrant of Opposition MPs, during the state of siege following the shootings on February 11 this year, and the recent repression of student protests about the state budget and the purchase of luxury 4WD Prados for MPs. So far there has been no substantive response to the reports on these violations by the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice.
"So these are not just threats from our recent experience," noted Guterres.

Guterres urged national leaders not to threaten the people with jail, and not to use words like 'cannons', 'armored tanks', or 'battalions', which the Prime Minister used in his Ainaro speech. "It is better if you all start to speak of the constitution, peace, democracy, tolerance, freedom, justice, the rule of law and the rights our people have to live in peace and express their political views free from fear or threats," Guterres said.

Guterres also asked people not to be affected by the threats against their rights. "When all of us walk this lawful path of peace and democracy, there will be no jail big enough to incarcerate us all," he concluded defiantly.

For information contact:
José Teixeira MP +670 728 7080
Nilva Guimarães (media officer) +670 734 0389

----------------------------------------------------

FRETILIN sublinha não alterar planos da Marcha da Paz

Jornal da Madeira / Internacional / 2008-10-03

Em Díli nos próximos meses

A FRETILIN "não muda uma vírgula" no plano de realizar a Marcha da Paz em Díli nos próximos meses, segundo afirmou, ontem, o presidente do maior partido da oposição, Francisco Guterres "Lu Olo".

O líder da FRETILIN respondeu, em conferência de imprensa, a declarações do primeiro-ministro, Xanana Gusmão, num discurso em Ainaro, a 28 de Setembro.

"Lu Olo" acusou Xanana de ter dito à população que "tinha ouvido que se preparava a Marcha da Paz" para Díli, mas que "não valia a pena" as pessoas descerem à capital.

"O primeiro-ministro disse que estaria à espera de quem se manifestasse e que os meteria a todos na cadeia", acusou o líder da FRETILIN. (Agência Lusa)

Timor-Leste/Gusmao's $15m rice deal alarms UN

Mark Dodd

The Australian - July 07, 2008

East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has signed a $US14.4 million ($14.9 million) food security contract giving sole import rights to the vice-president of his political party - a deal that is ringing alarm bells at the UN and among the impoverished country's main donors, including Australia.

Dili-based diplomatic sources said they had strong concerns about the deal, seen as a blow against efforts to improve governance and transparency in one of Southeast Asia's most troubled and poorest countries.

Speaking on national television on Saturday night, Mr Gusmao defended the contract, saying it would ensure food security for the country at a time of need.

A copy of the contract signed on May 7 - entitled "The Supply and Warehousing of White Rice" - which has been obtained by The Australian, shows Mr Gusmao's signature authorising the procurement of 16,000 tonnes of white rice for $US14.4 million.

The beneficiary is given as Germano AJda Silva, director of Dili-based Tres Amigos Company and vice-president of Mr Gusmao's CNRT party.

The contract is an amendment to an earlier procurement for 8000 tonnes of rice for a price originally set at $US4.08million.

"The Ministry of Finance Procurement Service hereby declare the following amendments to the above mentioned contract," it says. "The contract price is hereby changed from $US4.08 million to $US14.4million.

"The price increase has resulted from changes to the contract quality and unit price."

The opposition Fretilin said yesterday the rice contract was evidence of growing corruption involving the Prime Minister and close associates.

Fretilin's Arsenio Bano - who sits on the parliamentary committee for financial oversight, defence, national security and foreign affairs - said in addition to conflict of interest concerns, the deal had major national budget implications for this year.

Mr Bano alleged that Mr da Silva had been involved in an earlier case of misappropriation of public monies in 2000 in which Mr Gusmao was forced to replace a $US20,000 accounting shortfall in his then presidential office with his own money.

The latest allegations are a blow to the image of Mr Gusmao, a celebrated former leader of the pro-independence FALINTIL guerilla force that spearheaded the territory's bloody 24-year struggle to separate from Indonesia. Like many guerilla leaders turned politicians, Mr Gusmao, while personally popular, has shown himself to be less adept at public administration.

"The Prime Minister said on the weekend on national television that he prefers not to let the people of East Timor starve of rice." Mr Bano said. "But this statement is very concerning for us because it could be seen to be promoting even wider conflict of interest and collusion.

"What does this statement promote as an example for the other ministers?"

It is understood that the UN's World Food Program, US and Australian embassies in Dili have raised concerns about the deal following several other contentious multi-million-dollar contracts, including the procurement of Chinese patrol boats and two heavy fuel-oil powered electricity plants.

To cover these and other contracts, the Government has sought a supplementary budget increase for 2008 of more than 122 per cent, up from a parliamentary approved $US425.5 million to $US773 million.

According to Mr Bano, the Government has shown an inability so far to spend even a fraction of its original budget allocation and moves to raise more money from the public coffers are matters of extreme concern.

"What we are very concerned about is the Government's capacity to spend this money properly. Between January and March this year, the Government spent only $US32million - that is just over $US10 million a month," he said. "Why on earth would they now be wanting an extra $US425 million?"

Timor-Leste/Considerou Mari Alkatiri:«A democracia está em risco»

Rui Neumann e Tiago Farinha/Jornal Digital/4 março 2008

Díli – O duplo atentado, 11 de Fevereiro, contra o chefe de Estado timorense, Ramos-Horta, e o primeiro-ministro, Xanana Gusmão, reforçou a tensão inter partidária. Em entrevista à PNN, Mari Alkatiri insistiu que as duvidas sobre o duplo atentado estão a pôr em risco a democracia, para saída da crise apenas aceita que a Fretilin participe no Governo se «for para liderar o Governo.»
Mari Alkatiri, secretário-geral da Fretilin, considerou que se as interrogações do duplo atentado não ficarem esclarecidas podem por em causa o processo democrático em Timor e teme que o impasse da actual situação se torne numa «bomba retardatária».
O secretário-geral da Fretilin afirma que o relato relativo ao ataque contra Xanana Gusmão, «é uma ficção barata» e lembra que Mário Carrascalão, numa entrevista à Lusa, já considerara o mesmo ataque como uma «montagem».
Em entrevista à PNN, Mari Alkatiri realçou mistérios que envolvem o ataque ao primeiro-ministro, segundo fontes do secretário-geral da Fretilin, o veículo de Xanana Gusmão inicialmente apresentava impactos de duas balas, pouco depois foi apresentado com a marca de 16 tiros. «Enviámos imediatamente uma pessoa ao local que tirou fotografias», contou Alkatiri, «dizia-se que o carro tinha ido pela ribanceira abaixo, e depois estava parado na estrada. Só mais tarde é que foi pela ribanceira.»
O secretário-geral da Fretilin continua a afirmar que ainda existem fortes suspeitas relativamente ao atentado. «Como é que o Alfredo Reinado vai atacar a pessoa (Ramos-Horta) que estava a procurar uma solução airosa para si mesmo? Quem foi atacado primeiro, foi o Reinado ou o Presidente da Republica? Se foi o Reinado, segundo os primeiros dados, este terá sido morto uma hora antes. Se foi morto antes, porque que os homens do Reinado e os do Presidente da República ficaram a olhar uns para os outros até ao Presidente chegar?» questionou Alkatiri.
O mesmo responsável político defendeu a necessidade de uma comissão de inquérito independente. «Países que têm aqui presença, nas áreas da justiça ou assessores na área da segurança, não podem ter os seus elementos a fazer parte desta comissão», e sublinha que se os atentados ocorreram «com toda esta presença, e se a investigação incriminar a presença internacional, ou a ONU, a tendência é naturalmente encobrir» e lembrou que existem países que não estão presentes em Timor capazes de efectuar um inquérito independente. Em relação à presença do FBI em Timor, com o objectivo de proceder às investigações sobre os atentados, Alkatiri é céptico: «Ao fim e ao cabo, são instrumentalizados. Mesmo que queiram ser sérios, não podem.» Receia, também, que as conclusões do FBI fiquem apenas nas mãos do Procurador-Geral da Republica e não sejam apresentadas ao público.
Os motivos que levaram ao duplo atentado são ainda um enigma, o secretário-geral da Fretilin sugere que existem indícios que assentam na intenção de Ramos Horta convocar eleições antecipadas. «Presidente da Republica tinha dito claramente que haveria eleições antecipadas em 2009. É claro que quem governa não gosta disso. Estas dúvidas precisam de ser esclarecidas para o bem das pessoas que estão envolvidas. Eu no lugar do Xanana, seria o primeiro a dizer que queria esta investigação fosse feita de forma independente. Eu fui também vítima de tudo isto em 2006» e afirma: «Não vale a pena escudar-se na imunidade e tentarmos encontrar caminhos que não convencem.»
Para Mari Alkatiri a actual crise é a sequência da crise de 2006. «2006 aconteceu porque Xanana queria o poder e não tinha o poder. E agora, depois de estar como primeiro-ministro sentia que não tinha o poder» afirmou o mesmo responsável político. Questionado pela PNN se considera que Xanana Gusmão está a caminho de uma ditadura Alkatiri responde: «Xanana Gusmão gosta do poder. Democracia para Xanana é ter todos juntos mas sob o seu comando. Todos falam, mas ele é que manda.»
«Xanana é um patriota e rejeito que digam que vendeu a pátria aos australianos. Mas Xanana não consegue pensar como Estado, pensa como guerrilheiro. Para ele, a guerrilha é assim. Já quando era líder no tempo da resistência, foi ele que abriu as portas para os partidos todos mas o comando era dele. Ele pensa que tudo tem de continuar assim. Pensa que é o único que consegue ainda congregar todos» considerou Mari Alkatiri.
Para a saída da crise Mari Alkatiri defendeu como primeira medida o fim do Estado de Sitio: «Os cidadãos quando se sentem livres, perdem o medo e podem dizer as verdades.»
O mesmo responsável político considerou que o Estado de Sitio, e Emergência, «está a ser usado para intimidar as pessoas. A população vai-se cansar com todas essas medidas, particularmente nos bairros de Díli. Já estamos a regressar ao tempo da indonésia, as pessoas já não dormem em casa. Bairros de Tunanara, Pité, são jovens que têm medo que a polícia os vá buscar à noite”, e qualifica o risco da população se revoltar como “uma bomba retardatária.»
«O poder deve acreditar que a melhor forma de controlar esta população é meter-lhes medo, para não haver manifestações, qualquer outra acção violenta. Não há direito a manifestação, não há direito a reuniões públicas. Costumo reunir em minha casa com muita gente e há alguns dias passaram aqui os polícias a perguntar aos meus seguranças o que é que nós estávamos a fazer» testemunhou Alkatiri.
O secretário-geral da Fretilin, defende «mais do que nunca» eleições antecipadas, e exige a saída do actual Governo o qual «não tem capacidade para sozinho enfrentar as dificuldades» e considerou a AMP (Aliança Maioria Parlamentar, liderada por Xanana Gusmão) como uma «manta de retalhos». Evocando a necessidade de da criação de uma Junta de Salvação Nacional só aceita a participação do seu partido no Governo se «for para liderar o Governo.»

Timor-Leste/Procurador de Dili recusa interrogar Xanana Gusmão

The Southeast Asian Times/News Reports
Tradução de Margarida/Timor Online/21 janeiro 2008

Dili, Janeiro 18:

O supostamente imparcial Procurador-Geral de Timor-Leste Longuinhos Monteiro tem-se recusado a investigar a alegação do suspeito de homicídio-desertor-amotinado Alfredo Reinado de que o presidente agora-primeiro-ministro Xanana Gusmão foi o autor dos distúrbios do ano passado que levaram o país recém-independente à beira da guerra civil e a uma ocupação militar liderada pelos Australianos.

Em vez disso, Longuinhos Monteiro – que foi rápido a investigar anteriormente falsas acusações contra o antigo primeiro-ministro Mari Alkatiri – diz que precisa do conselho do propagandista de Gusmão e ministro dos estrangeiros durante os distúrbios - o agora presidente, José Ramos-Horta.

Porque é que um procurador-geral independente precisaria do conselho de um presidente com um papel principalmente cerimonial não é explicado.

Os habitualmente barulhentos apoiantes do eixo Gusmão-Horta -os media corporativos Australianos – têm andado estranhamente calados sobre este imbróglio apesar de terem relatado o último apelo para os seus co-cidadãos rezarem pelo seu antigo torturador, o General Soeharto, que está a morrer em Jacarta.

O pedido para Gusmão ser interrogado foi feito numa carta do presidente da Fretilin ao Procurador-Geral

A carta de Francisco Guterres 'Lu-Olo'segue-se à distribuição de um CD video através de Timor-Leste onde Alfredo Reinado faz acusações contra o presidente-primeiro-ministro.

O The Southeast Asian Times noticiou a entrevista logo que ele caiu no domínio público.

Longuinhos Monteiro tem sido citado pelos media domésticos de Timor-Leste como tendo dito que não intervirá por que o conteúdo do vídeo é demasiadamente político.

E que precisaria ainda de saber o que presidente pensa da acção que deveria ser tomada.
Inicialmente, o duvidosamente-nomeado primeiro-ministro fintou os repórteres Timorenses que queriam a sua resposta às alegações de Reinado.

Agora ele ameaçou prendê-los se e quando re-emergir a instabilidade.

"Têm de exercer mais responsabilidade em relação a um ambiente de estabilidade ou instabilidade. Fechamos os olhos nos casos de coisas pequenas e grandes quando vão entrevistar o Alfredo," disse ele.
O Comandante das Forças Internacionais de Estabilização, o Brigadeiro Australiano, John Hutcheson, disse que as suas tropas não serão usadas para capturar quer Alfredo Reinado ou os seus seguidores armados.

Disse ele que o foragido-amotinado formados pelos Australianos era um problema interno.

O que disse Reinado:
No seu discurso amplamente relatado em Timor-Leste mas até agora ignorado pelos media estrangeiros, Reinado disse que Gusmão esteve por detrás do movimento de protesto nas forças armadas conhecido como os "peticionários” que desertaram em massa no princípio de 2006.

Disse Reinado: "Ele (Gusmão) chama-nos maus, mas foi ele que nos criou, que nos fez como somos. É ele o autor da petição. Ele esteve por detrás disto tudo. Agora como Primeiro-Ministro ele mudou de paleio e está a lavar as mãos.

"Ele virou-se contra nós, contra aqueles a quem ele deu ordens e a quem criou. Foi com o apoio dele que em primeiro lugar emergiu a petição, Foram os seus discursos irresponsáveis aos media que levaram as pessoas a lutar e a matarem-se umas contra outras e a muitas mais coisas, como ele bem sabe.

"Dou o meu testemunho como testemunha, que Xanana é o autor principal desta crise; Ele não pode mentir ou negar isto. Ele tentará tudo e fará todo o tipo de manobras para se salvar ele próprio , mas ele não se safará."

O discurso de Reinado contra Gusmão foi noticiado por jornais que circulam principalmente na capital Dili e pela radio da Igreja Católica que se pode ouvir na maior parte do país.
A única estação de televisão de Timor-Leste, a TVTL de propriedade do Governo e controlada por apoiantes de Gusmão, nada emitiu do discurso do vídeo que em cópias DVD andam em circulação na capital.

Reinado avisou também as companhias estrangeiras para não investirem em Timor-Leste porque a crise continua sem estar resolvida.

Reinado é um antigo chefe da polícia militar que passou vários anos na Austrália e se formou na Academia de Defesa Australiana em Canberra em 2005.

No ano seguinte ele liderou um motim nas forças armadas contra o governo da Fretilin do primeiro-ministro Mari Alkatiri que tinha zangado Canberra ao tomar uma postura mais dura do que a esperada nas negociações sobre o petróleo e o gás.

O motim desencadeou ampla violência, facilitada pelo destacamento das tropas Australianas para Timor-Leste e forçou a resignação de Alkatiri que foi substituído por José Ramos-Horta, um aliado estreito de Gusmão.
Os media Australianos actuaram como uma claque para Gusmão e Horta, ecoando o argumento do Primeiro-Ministro Australiano John Howard de que o culpado dos problemas era Alkatiri.

Recomendadas acusações
Contudo uma Comissão Especial Independente de Inquérito da ONU à crise recomendou que Reinado fosse processado e mais tarde ele foi acusado de rebelião, de oito casos de homicídio e de dez casos de tentativa de homicídio.

Apesar da gravidade dos alegados crimes, Reinado recebeu a simpatia aberta e apoio encoberto de Gusmão, que como presidente tem o cargo de comandante das forças armadas .

Um correspondente do jornal The Australian noticiou ter visto uma ordem presidencial para Reinado e os seus colegas amotinados para se acantonarem na cidade de Aileu, a 50 km sudeste da capital.
Após a violência ter escalado em Dili, Reinado mudou-se para as montanhas, criando uma base na Poussada Hotel perto de Maubisse.

O The Australian noticiou que operacionais do Serviço Aéreo Especial da Austrália foram para o hotel para manterem sob observação o Reinado que passou seis semanas na Poussada mas saíu sem pagar a conta.

A conta foi paga pelo Presidente Gusmão, disserem empregados do hotel ao The Australian.

Reinado acabou por ser preso em 27 de Julho de 2006 depois da polícia Portuguesa ter descoberto que ele e os seus homens se tinham mudado para a capital e estavam a ocupar casas do outro lado da rua frente ao quartel dos militares Australianos.

O gang foi preso e esperava julgamento mas um mês depois fugiu da prisão e voltou às montanhas.

Apesar do seu estatuto de foragido Reinado manteve-se em contacto estreito e amigável com as tropas Australianas. Chegou mesmo a ser fotografado com um lançador de mísseis enquanto atendia um “seminário da paz” organizado pela igreja na presença de soldados Australianos.

A mulher Australiana de Gusmão Kirsty Sword Gusmão veio em defesa do acusado de assassínio-foragido da prisão numa entrevista à ABC radio em 6 de Setembro de 2006.

"Ele (Reinado) tem sido retratado de modo incorrecto pelos media Australianos como sendo um desertor, um amotinado," disse a antiga professora primária convertida em rainha da caridade.

"Penso que é importante lembrar que quando ele desertou da polícia militar, foi numa acção de protesto contra o que achava terem sido violações terríveis cometidas pelas nossas forças armadas," disse ela.

Reinado deu um passo adiantado demais para Gusmão e para a Austrália quando tirou armas automáticas de postos da polícia na fronteira em Fevereiro do ano passado.

Forças Australianas tentaram recapturar Reinado mas ele escapou-se de debaixo dos seus narizes uma segunda vez, em 4 de Março de 2007, deixando para trás os corpos de cinco dos seus apoiantes.

O finca-pé entre Reinado e as autoridades desde então tornou-se uma farsa. O Presidente Horta – supostamente engajado num "diálogo" com o amotinado – tem insultado o sector judicial que quer manter as acusações de homicídio contra Reinado.

O comandante militar Australiano em Timor-Leste, Brigadeiro John Hutcheson, foi criticado por um juíz e pelo principal partido da oposição no país, a Fretilin, por ter parado a operação para a detenção de Reinado por instruções de Horta.

O cada vez mais controverso papel das tropas Australianas originou recentemente um comentário do padre da igreja católica Australiana, padre Frank Brennan, um antigo director do Jesuit Refugee Service em Timor-Leste.

Escreveu Brennan: "Há uma percepção crescente entre os críticos locais do governo de Timor que as tropas Australianas são as tropas pessoais do Presidente dada a sua presença lá sem mandato constitucional e a sua resposta pronta ao comando arbitrário de Horta, que pouco respeito mostrou pela tradicional separação de poderes entre o Executivo e o Judicial."

Brennan sublinhou que os apoiantes da Fretilin se sentem ainda enganados com a decisão de Ramos Horta de convidar Gusmão para formar governo, mesmo apesar da Fretilin ter tido mais votos que o partido de Gusmão.

FOTO:
O suspeito de homicídio-desertor-amotinado Alfredo Reinado tem sido muitas vezes entrevistado pelos media internacionais e domésticos. Mas isso era antes de ter dito que o primeiro-ministro Xanana Gusmão fora o arquitecto dos distúrbios do ano passado no país recentemente-independente. Agora o antigo presidente ameaçou os repórteres com prisão se eles entrevistarem o foragido.

Chris Ray

Dili prosecutor refuses to question Xanana Gusmao

The Southeast Asian Times / From News Reports:

Fonte: Timor Online / 21 janeiro 2008 / http://timor-online.blogspot.com

Dili, January 18: East Timor's supposedly impartial Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro has refused to investigate mutineer-deserter-and-murder-suspect Alfredo Reinado's allegation that president now-prime-minister Xanana Gusmao was the author of last year's disturbances that took the newly-independent country to the brink of civil war and a multi-national Australian-led military occupation.
Instead, Longuinhos Monteiro - who was quickly able to investigate ultimately false accusations against former prime minister Mari Alkatiri - says he needs advice from Gusmao's cheer-leader and foreign minister during the disturbances - the now president, Jose Ramos-Horta.
Why an independent prosecutor general would need the advice of a nominally ceremonial president is not explained.
The usually vociferous supporters of the Gusmao-Horta axis - the Australian corporate media - have been strangely quiet about the imbroglio although it did get to report the latter's call for his countrymen and women to pray for their former tormenter, General Soeharto, who is dying in Jakarta.
The request for Gusmao to be questioned is made in a letter to the Prosecutor General from Fretilin president
Francisco Guterres 'Lu-Olo' and follows distribution of a CD video throughout East Timor in which Alfredo Reinado makes his accusations against the president-prime minister.
The Southeast Asian Times reported the interview soon after it became public.
Longuinhos Monteiro has been quoted by East Timor's domestic media as saying that his office would not intervene because the contents of the video are too political.
He would also need to know what the president thought about what action should be taken.
Initially, the dubiously-appointed prime minister dodged East Timorese reporters who wanted his response to Alfredo Reinado's applications.

Now he has threatened to arrest them if and when instability re-emerges.
"You have to exercise more responsibility towards the environment of stability or instability. We close our eyes when in the case of small and big things you go and interview Alfredo," he said.
The Commander of the International Stabilisation Forces, Australian Brigadier General, John Hutcheson, said his troops will not be used to capture either Alfredo Reinado or his armed followers.
The Australian-trained mutineer-fugitive was an internal problem, he said.

What Reinado said:
In his speech widely reported inside East Timor but so far ignored by the foreign media, Reinado said Gusmao was behind the army protest movement known as the "petitioners" who deserted en masse in early 2006.
Reinado said: "He (Gusmao) calls us bad people, but it was he who created us, made us to be like this. He is the author of the petition. He was behind all of this. Now as a Prime Minister, he has changed his tune and is washing his hands.
"He has turned against us, those who were ordered and created by him. It was with his support that the petition emerged in the first place, it was his irresponsible speeches to the media that made people fight and kill each other until today and many more things, as he knows.
"I give my testimony as a witness, that Xanana is the main author of this crisis; he cannot lie or deny this. He will try anything and make all sorts of manoeuvres to save himself, but he will not succeed."
Reinado's broadside against Gusmao has been reported by newspapers which circulate mainly in the capital Dili and by Catholic Church radio which can be heard over most of the country.
East Timor's sole television station, the government-owned TVTL controlled by Gusmao supporters, has failed to broadcast footage of the speech though DVD copies are circulating in the capital.
Reinado also warned foreign companies not to invest in East Timor because the crisis remains unresolved.
Reinado is a former military police chief who spent several years in Australia and trained at the Australian Defence Academy in Canberra in 2005.
The following year he led an army mutiny against the Fretilin government of prime minister Mari Alkatiri who had angered Canberra by taking a tougher than expected stance in negotiations over oil and gas.
The mutiny sparked widespread violence, facilitated the dispatch of Australian troops to East Timor and forced the resignation of Alkatiri who was replaced by Jose Ramos Horta, a close ally of Gusmao.
Most Australian media acted as little more than a cheer squad for Gusmao and Horta, echoing Australian Prime Minister John Howard's argument that Alkatiri was to blame for the trouble.

Charges recommended

However a United Nations Independent Special Commission of Inquiry into the crisis recommended that Reinado be prosecuted and he was later charged with rebellion, eight counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.
Despite the gravity of the alleged offences Reinado received open sympathy and covert support from Gusmao, who as president held the title of army commander in chief.

A correspondent for The Australian newspaper reported seeing a presidential order for Reinado and his fellow mutineers to base themselves in the town of Aileu, 50km southeast of the capital.
Following escalating violence in Dili, Reinado moved deeper into the mountains, establishing a base at the Poussada Hotel near Maubisse.
The Australian reported that operatives of Australia's Special Air Service went to the hotel to watch over Reinado who spent six weeks at the Poussada but moved out without settling his account.

The bill was paid by President Gusmao, hotel staff told The Australian.
Reinado was eventually arrested on July 27 2006 after Portuguese police discovered he and his men had moved back to the capital and were occupying houses across the street from Australian military headquarters.
The gang were jailed awaiting trial but broke out of prison a month later and went back to the mountains.
Despite his fugitive status Reinado remained in close and friendly contact with Australian troops. He was even photographed with a rocket launcher while attending a church-organised "peace seminar" in the presence of Australian soldiers.
Gusmao's Australian wife Kirsty Sword Gusmao came to the defence of the accused- murderer-turned- prison-escapee in an interview with ABC radio on September 6 2006.
"He (Reinado) has been portrayed somewhat incorrectly in the Australian media as being a renegade, a rebel," said the former schoolteacher turned charity queen.
"I think it's important to remember that when he defected from the military police, it was as a protest action against what he saw as terrible violations committed by our armed forces," she said.
Reinado took a step too far for Gusmao and Australia when he seized automatic weapons from police border posts in February last year.
Australian forces tried to recapture Reinado but he escaped from under their noses a second time, on March 4 2007, leaving behind the corpses of five of his supporters.
The stand-off between Reinado and the authorities has since descended into farce. President Horta - supposedly engaged in a "dialogue" with the rebel - has abused the judiciary for wanting to pursue murder charges against Reinado.
The Australian military commander in East Timor, Brigadier John Hutcheson, has been criticised by a judge and the country's main opposition party, Fretilin, for halting the operation to arrest Reinado on Horta's instructions.
The increasingly controversial role of Australian troops recently drew comment from an Australian Catholic priest Father Frank Brennan, a former director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in East Timor.
Brennan wrote: "There is a growing perception among local critics of the Timor government that the Australian troops are the personal troops of the President given their presence without full constitutional mandate and their ready response to Horta's arbitrary command, which showed little respect for the traditional separation of powers between the Executive and the judiciary."
Brennan noted that Fretilin supporters still feel cheated by Ramos Horta's decision to invite Gusmao to form a government, even though Fretilin outpolled Gusmao's party.

PHOTO:
East Timor mutineer-deserter-and-murder-suspect Alfredo Reinado has been often interviewed by the international and domestic media. But that was before named prime minister Xanana Gusmao as the architect of last year's disturbances in the newly-independent country. Now the former president has threatened reporters with arrest if they interview the fugitive.

http://timor-online.blogspot.com/2008/01/dili-prosecutor-refuses-to-question.html

Xanana E Horta Os “Sobas” Da Era Moderna

Blog Portugal Directo – Quinta-feira, 17 de Maio de 2007

http://portugal-directo.blogspot.com/

Postado Por Mário Motta

De há um ano para cá têm acontecido em Timor-Leste factos impares que a comunidade internacional identifica como a descarada ingerência do governo australiano num país vizinho, com motivações na exploração máxima e quase gratuita do petróleo e gás natural do Mar de Timor a que a Austrália não deitaria a mão se Timor fosse um país soberano.

Políticos timorenses que anteriormente cativaram a opinião pública mundial estão agora em muito baixa cotação, por considerarem que estão claramente dominados pelos interesses energéticos dos australianos e norte-americanos, fazendo o que lhes é sugerido em vez de pensarem com a sua própria cabeça e consolidarem a independência e estabilidade do país.

Nos primeiros meses de 2006, o golpe militar patrocinado pela Igreja, por Xanana Gusmão e Ramos Horta, mas provocado pelos serviços de inteligência norte-americanos e australianos, deram origem a largas dezenas de mortes e centenas de casas devastadas pelo fogo e vandalismo, atingindo o número de refugiados-deslocados timorenses mais de 150 mil pessoas – dos quais ainda restam 30 mil.

Nessa altura, Xanana Gusmão revelou as suas intenções ao partir para o confronto com o então primeiro-ministro Mari Alkatiri, da Fretilin, em vez de procurar ser consensual e pacificador como compete a um Chefe de Estado. Por sua vez Ramos Horta manteve-se na sombra, diplomaticamente hipócrita, e acabou por ocupar o lugar de primeiro-ministro até então de Mari Alkatiri.

Xanana ameaçava demitir-se de Chefe de Estado se Alktiri não se demitisse, chantageando, indiferente às consequências que daí poderiam advir em mais mortes e destruição.
“Não quero governar sobre cadáveres”, foi a resposta de Alkatiri ao sair de chefe do governo, acusando indirectamente Xanana de já estar a presidir sobre cadáveres – coisa que continuaria a fazer.

Várias tentativas de fazer cair todo o governo e a Assembleia Legislativa foram feitas através da instabilidade provocada por grupos arruaceiro e militares rebeldes orquestrados e financiados pela Austrália e pelos Estados Unidos da América, mas dadas as dificuldades impostas pelo facto de a Fretilin ser partido maioritário, Xanana Gusmão recuou e preferiu prolongar a situação de instabilidade, mortes e destruição, com o intuito de desgastar a Fretilin e os seus principais lideres.

Dizendo-se cansado e desiludido da política, anunciou que se iria dedicar à agricultura assim que terminasse o mandato de PR, mas aquilo que foi demonstrado veio comprovar análises de profissionais de vários órgãos de comunicação social que apontavam o dedo a Xanana na sua subserviência a interesses estrangeiros.

O protagonismo de Ramos Horta em quase um ano em primeiro-ministro foi nulo no propósito de governar mas frutuoso na promoção e estruturação do ambiente político que lhe permitiria vir a substituir Xanana Gusmão na Presidência da República, ao invés o percurso de Xanana movimentou-se para a formação de um partido que colhe os “lucros” da implementação de um país em estado de sítio, anunciando que se vai candidatar à Assembleia Legislativa nas eleições de 30 de Junho, porque quer ser primeiro-ministro.

Para quem estava cansado e desiludido com a política e se ia dedicar à agricultura, às abóboras, a recuperação foi rápida.

Temos assim a consumação do golpe de estado por via “democrática”, de forma mais discreta que os golpes militares da América Latina, patrocinados pelos EUA, mas com uma mortandade e uma destruição significativa, que aterrorizou, uma vez mais, os timorenses. Ao ponto de eles votarem nos novos “Sobas” do país para que alguma paz quotidiana lhes seja concedida.

Ramos Horta, em 9 deste mês já foi eleito Presidente da República e irá substituir Xanana Gusmão. Em 30 de Junho, tudo indica, Xanana, com o seu partido CNRT, será eleito primeiro-ministro…

As moscas mudam de poiso mas a trampa vai ser a mesma, como a Austrália quer.