The Wire

Human rights groups have criticised Indonesia’s decision to set free Eurico Guterres, the only man ever convicted of post-election violence in East Timor in 1999. More than 14 hundred East Timorese were killed in a brutal retaliation blamed on Indonesian-backed militia groups, following a UN-backed vote for independence. This week Guterres walked out of jail after serving only two years of his ten year sentence for the war crime. The Indonesian Supreme Court cited lack of evidence, despite the existence of extensive documentary proof. Now a free man, the self-proclaimed nationalist, has announced plans for a political career.