Global Policy Forum

An East Timorese judge has rejected a bid to hold a hearing seeking an arrest warrant for a former Indonesian military chief who has been indicted for war crimes but who is now a presidential candidate in Jakarta. General Wiranto, who commanded Indonesia's military during East Timor's violence-wracked secession in 1999, plans to contest Indonesia's elections later this year. Without the warrant, Wiranto can't be arrested outside East Timor. In a ruling handed down today, Judge Phillip Rapoza rejected an appeal by UN-funded prosecutors to hear an application seeking the arrest warrant against Wiranto, who uses only one name. Rapoza told the court - known as the Special Panel for Serious Crimes - that such a hearing was not provided for under local and international law. Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro alleged that the court has delayed issuing an arrest warrant for political reasons. The judge gave prosecutors 30 days to provide additional evidence. Wiranto was indicted in East Timor in February last year for allegedly fomenting the violence perpetrated by Indonesian troops and militia gangs before and after a UN-sponsored independence referendum in August 1999. He has been charged with what the UN describes as "command responsibility" in the violence that left 1500 people dead before Indonesian forces withdrew from the territory they had occupied and ruled with an iron fist since 1975. Wiranto has denied the accusations. He has described the accusations as part of a conspiracy to undermine his presidential candidacy. Indonesian authorities have said they would not hand over Wiranto or other officers accused of war crimes.