Mais um juiz? E mais um candidato?

Alkatiri likely to walk free, says Horta
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili
July 03, 2006


DEPOSED East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri is probably guilty of crimes against the state but any sentence would be commuted by parliament, according to Jose Ramos Horta, who expects this week to be named as his replacement.

Mr Ramos Horta said he had assumed effective control of the Government to provide a smooth transition to an interim administration to be named by President Xanana Gusmao within days.

The former foreign minister has been in intense negotiations with the ruling Fretilin party to secure its backing for him as interim prime minister, a position he would hold until the country's elections, scheduled for the middle of next year.

He told The Australian yesterday that Dr Alkatiri's "many positive contributions to the country" would have to be taken into consideration.

Prosecutors want to question Dr Alkatiri on charges that he failed to stop his former interior minister, Rogerio Lobato, from arming and directing a secret hit squad designed to enforce "security" ahead of a national congress of his ruling Fretilin party last month.

Mr Ramos Horta said the former prime minister was, "on the basis of available evidence, guilty of not having effectively stopped minister Lobato, one of his senior cabinet members, from distributing weapons".

However, he said any sentence could be commuted by the parliament, where Fretilin holds a large majority.

Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteiro has said Dr Alkatiri could face up to 15 years' jail.

"I prefer to look at the problems of Dr Alkatiri and Lobato in the context of a new democracy, where every one of us had much inexperience having to deal with so many problems of nation building," Mr Ramos Horta said yesterday at his home in foothills east of the capital, Dili.

Mr Ramos Horta rejected suggestions there had been a partisan Australian involvement in Dr Alkatiri's downfall, but said Canberra's approach to the crisis could have been more "discrete". "But, well, they are a big donor," he said with a shrug.

Mr Ramos Horta has called a cabinet meeting for this morning at which he will ask several ministers who resigned a week ago, at the height of the crisis, to stay on.

He said Dr Alkatiri, who remains a member of parliament, would not be a minister in the interim government, "but I would consult with him because of his experience in leading the cabinet and he has shown willingness to co-operate to make the transition smooth".

He said the key challenge for his interim government would be addressing "the humanitarian situation, security, job creation and national dialogue" after weeks of violence sparked by the sacking of almost 600 soldiers claiming ethnic-based discrimination in the military.

The crisis climaxed a week ago with Dr Alkatiri's resignation after thousands of people converged on Dili demanding he go.

Australia has announced a doubling of its food aid to East Timor, to $8 million, after the UN World Food Program warned that supplies to more than 140,000 refugees in the country were running out.

Australian Brigadier Mick Slater, commander of the international Joint Task Force in East Timor, said yesterday refugees would be urged to move from more than 60 camps "to suburbs within the city, with an increased security force in there so they know it's safe".

Many areas of Dili have been destroyed in the violence.

Mr Ramos Horta's likely appointment as interim prime minister this week will be the result of several days of negotiations with Fretilin. As the party of government it has the right to nominate its preferred candidate to Mr Gusmao.

"I do not believe anyone can in the next six to nine months completely heal the wounds and restore confidence in the Government, so I will make myself available to serve the country beyond May 2007," Mr Ramos Horta said yesterday.

However, the party would be unlikely to nominate a non-member under ordinary circumstances, and Dr Alkatiri has told supporters he intends to contest next year's elections "even more vigorously than before".

Mr Ramos Horta said he was considering a suggestion by Mr Gusmao that he stand for president next year. Mr Gusmao, also not a Fretilin member, has indicated he is unwilling to stand again.

"If (Fretilin) or other parties wanted to really push me for the presidency I'd have to think it through, because I wonder whether I'll be more useful as president or as prime minister," Mr Ramos Horta said.

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Segredo de justiça e presunção de inocência, até ser provado o contrário, não existem em Timor-Leste...