Indonesian Prosecutors Investigate 1999 Slaying of Dutch Reporter

Subject: LUSA: Indonesian Prosecutors Investigate 1999 Slaying of Dutch Reporter

27 Feb 02 20:25 East Timor: Indonesian Prosecutors Investigate 1999 Slaying of Dutch Reporter

A pair of Indonesian prosecutors arrived in East Timor Wednesday to investigate the 1999 murder of a Dutch journalist who was reporting on the explosion of violence in the territory when it voted for independence from Jakarta.

Sander Thoenes, the Jakarta-based correspondent of the Financial Times, was shot dead on September 21, 1999, hours after arriving in Dili. Indonesian investigators will interview witnesses and examine evidence collected by the UN administration`s Serious Crimes Unit.

An Indonesian team visited East Timor in July 2000 and investigated Thoenes`s murder. The Attorney general`s office in Jakarta said in October 2001 that it hoped the case would be brought before the ad-hoc human rights tribunal within a few months.

Two senior Indonesian army officers, suspected of having knowledge about the Thoenes case, were questioned by Jakarta prosecutors in West Timor last month.

The Dutch police are carrying out their own investigation of the journalist`s death and officers from the Netherlands are due to meet the Indonesian team Thursday in Dili.

CJB/ASP -Lusa-

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