| Subject: Lusa - East Timor: Mario Soares Named a
Witness in Suit Against Suharto Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 01:13:07 -0000 From: "Paula Pinto" <paularoque@mail.telepac.pt> 21 JAN 99 - 21:07 East Timor: Mario Soares Named a Witness in Suit Against Suharto Lisbon, Jan. 21 (Lusa) - Former Portuguese president Mario Soares will be named a witness in a complaint charging former Indonesian president Suharto with crimes against humanity. The complaint will be submitted to Portugal's chief prosecutor, Antonio Pereira, head of the "Law and Justice" group, said Thursday. The group is the Portuguese section of the Geneva-based International Jurists Commission. If approved the complaint will underpin a formal request to extradite Suharto to Portugal. Suharto ordered the 1975 Indonesian occupation of East Timor, then a Portuguese overseas province. Humanitarian organizations estimate that more than 200 thousand people died during the invasion and the famine that followed. Pereira said that legally it was easier to extradite Suharto to Portugal than Chilean general Augusto Pinochet to Spain. Indonesian crimes in East Timor were committed in territory under Portuguese jurisdiction, he said. The United Nations continues to recognize Portugal as the administering power in East Timor. Lusa Back to January Menu |