War crimes charges urged for 1975 East Timor deaths

SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) An Australian coroner was urged to refer two people for war crimes prosecutions over the 1975 deaths of five journalists in East Timor today, after hearing the newsmen were deliberately killed by Indonesian troops.

The comments came on the same day the governor of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, said he had cut short an official visit to Australia after police served him a summons to testify in the coroner's inquest in Sydney into one of the deaths.

In final submissions to the inquest, Mark Tedeschi, the counsel assisting the coroner, said the five journalists were deliberately killed in Balibo in East Timor to stop them reporting news of Indonesian military actions.

Tedeschi did not name those who should be prosecuted, but said the case should be sent to Australia's Director of Public Prosecutions.

''This case is a case which cries out for referral,'' he said in his final submission.

Tedeschi had told the hearing at least three of the journalists were shot on orders of Captain Yunus Yosfiah, although it was unlikely the captain would have given the orders without support from superior officers. Yosfiah, who later rose to the rank of general, has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Outside the court, John Milkins, the son of one of those killed, thanked witnesses who came forward with evidence.

''We particularly want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the witnesses that have had the courage to come forward, and to tell us the truth as they've been able to tell in this particular instance,'' he told Australian radio.

The New South Wales state deputy coroner is holding the inquest into the death of Brian Peters, one of the five Australian-based journalists killed. Indonesia says the journalists were killed in cross fire. In Indonesia, Jakarta's Governor Sutiyoso, a former general who served in East Timor at the start of Indonesian occupation of the territory, said two officers barged into his hotel room in Sydney yesterday and asked him to sign the invitation to testify in the coronial inquest.

''I refused to sign it. I told them I have nothing to do with the case,'' he told reporters, adding the officers had obtained a master key from the hotel.

''I was angry because I was not supposed to be treated like that as a state official who came on an official invitation.'' He said that following the incident he immediately left Australia even though he was scheduled to visit Canberra.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda telephoned Australian Ambasador Bill Farmer to seek clarification, foreign ministry spokesman Kristiarto Legowo said.

About 30 Indonesians rallied outside the Australian embassy today to protest over the reported treatment of Sutiyoso. Some threw eggs at the embassy building.

Secret Australian government documents released in 2000 showed the government knew in advance of the incursion and stood by for three days while Jakarta troops readied for the event.

A follow-up full-scale invasion in December 1975 led to 24 years of brutal Indonesian rule in East Timor, a Portuguese colony until Lisbon effectively withdrew earlier that year.

East Timor has since become an independent country, voting overwhelmingly in 1999 for freedom from Indonesia.

REUTERS GL HT1615