A Jakarta court has jailed the feared former militia leader Eurico Guterres for 10 years for crimes against humanity in East Timor.
Judges at a human rights court said a speech by the pro-Jakarta militia chief to his followers "raised a feeling of vengeance and a desire to kill" independence supporters.
The subsequent attack on the refugee-packed house of Mr Manuel Carrascalao in the East Timorese Dili on April 17th, 1999, killed at least 12 people including Mr Carrascalao's 16-year-old son.
Guterres, charged with failure to stop his subordinates attacking Mr Carrascalao's home, could have been sentenced to death. Prosecutors had asked for a 10-year sentence.
He headed the Aitarak (Thorn) militia which terrorised Dili and surrounding areas before and after an August 1999 vote in which 80 per cent of East Timorese opted for independence.
Aitarak and other militias, armed and organised by the Indonesian military, waged a campaign of terror in which an estimated 1,000 people were killed.
Guterres is one of 18 police, military or other officials who have appeared before the rights court, which was created following international pressure for justice.
In widely criticized verdicts, the court previously acquitted six officers including the former East Timor police chief, and sentenced the former provincial governor to just three years in jail.
Senior officers including two generals and a colonel are among those still awaiting judgment.
The US government says it cannot resume full military ties until those guilty of Timor abuses have been punished.
"I never have regrets about what I did," a defiant Guterres (28) told reporters before today's hearing began. "But if I had known that trying to prevent Indonesia from breaking apart would cause me to end up in jail, I wouldn't have done that.
"The person who should stand trial is former president Habibie because he was president and the commander of the armed forces and the decision to hold a referendum was made by Habibie," Guterres said.
President BJ Habibie authorised the UN-organised independence referendum.
Guterres said earlier he expected to go to jail "because the process has been a sham all along. I'm being tried because of outside pressure especially the superpowers like the United States."
If he goes to prison, he said, he would "learn to be a good citizen of Indonesia". "Maybe I'll write a book. I know I have been betrayed by the government of Indonesia. But there is no reason for me to betray Indonesia in return."
AFP