Prosecutors at Indonesia's human rights court have unexpectedly dropped charges against a general accused of crimes against humanity in East Timor in 1999.
Major General Adam Damiri, who headed the regional military command overseeing East Timor, is the last and most senior of 18 defendants to appear before the court over the Indonesian army-backed militia violence against East Timorese independence supporters in 1999.
The court was set up to deflect pressure for an international tribunal into the bloodshed, but international and local rights groups have called it a sham.
Eleven security force members and one civilian have been acquitted by the court. Five people - two army officers, a former Dili police chief, the former civilian governor and an ex-militia chief - were ordered jailed but remain free pending appeals.
Prosecutor Hozie withdrew all charges against Maj Gen Damiri, saying he did not have enough evidence to back them up, Judge Komariah Emong Suparja told AFP.
The prosecutor, quoted by the state Antara news agency, said he alone decided to drop the charges. "There was no pressure, international or whatever," he said.
AFP