27 March 2010

Lawyer appeals court to annul first decision

Televizaun Timor-Leste March 25, 2010 language source: Tetun - Jose Pedro Camoes, the lawyer for Amaro da Costa Susar, Marcelo Caetano and other convicted rebels has formally filed the appeal to the court of appeal with the view to annulling the decision of the Dili District Court.

“We appeal to the court of appeal to annul the decision of the court because it was hard for the judges to prove the allegations,” Camoes said.

He also said that out of 12 allegations only three are proved and for him it is not enough to sentence Susar, Caetano and others.

He added that the court found that they did not shoot President Horta and that the shooting might have been done by others but the court failed to find who committed that crime.

“They did not shoot President Horta and it is clear that other actors might have done it so the court must find them out,” he said.

He hoped that the court of appeal would rectify the decisions of the Dili District Court and therefore reopen the case for investigation.

Earlier this month, the Dili District Court, through a panel of judges, sentenced the attackers of President Horta with 16 years imprisonment.

President Horta was fatally shot during the attack and President Horta said that it was a member of the rebel group, Marcelo Caetano, who shot him.

The ballistic test result showed that the bullets found in the body of Mr. President were not from Caetano’s gun.

The court also found that rebel leader Alfredo Reinado Alves and his co-fighter Leopoldino Exposto were not shot with defence force’s bullets as it was previously claimed.

However the court failed to find who shot both President Horta or the two members of the rebel group.

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