UN envoy to Timor-Leste praises handling of minister’s trial

The top United Nations envoy in Timor-Leste today praised the handling of the ongoing case against a former interior minister who was convicted of arming civilians in the deadly violence that rocked the small South-East Asian country last year.

After an appeals court upheld the seven-and-a-half-year sentence of former Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato, the head of the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), Atul Khare, commended all parties involved in the trial, noting that Mr. Lobato submitted voluntarily and peacefully to justice.

Mr. Khare expressed hope that others would follow this example, including Major Alfredo Reinado, another target of investigations by the UN Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste, set up to look into the deadly violence that erupted in May and April 2006.

Speaking of Mr. Lobato’s case, UNMIT said in a press release that: “The latest decision shows that a culture of impunity will not be tolerated in Timor-Leste and that respect for the legal process will lead to the longer term goals of reconciliation and unity.”

The 2006 crisis, attributed to differences between eastern and western regions, erupted after the firing of some 600 striking soldiers, a third of the armed forces. Ensuing violence claimed at least 37 lives and drove 155,000 people, 15 per cent of the total population, from their homes.

The Security Council created UNMIT in August 2006 to help restore order after the violence, especially in the run-up to this year’s elections, which were the first polls held in the tiny nation since it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.