22 March 2010

MP Fernandes Borges requests urgent explanation from Government about secret 2020 force

MP wants urgent explanation from Governmenton the status of 2006 reservists Televizaun Timor-Leste 16/03/2010 language source: Tetun - MP Fernanda Borges of the Timorese National Unity Party has asked the Parliament Bureau to urgently call for the attendance of the Minister of Defence to clarify the existence of the so-called “2020 force”.

Ms Borges made the comment following a recent statement by the Secretary of Defence Julio Tomas Pinto saying that there is no such 2020 force.

However, it was found out there is a group within the F-FDTL named the 2020 force whose members include the likes of Frederico Florindo Oan Ki’ak and Alberto, recently convicted by the courts for illegal weapons distribution in the 2006 crisis.

The President of Committee A on Constitutional Affairs, Law, and Public Administration also said that recently both Ki'ak and Alberto were paid US$ 1,600 out of the state budget.

“The Parliament has not approved any law about the existence of the 2020 force nor did it approve any budget for the payment of the force,” said Borges.

The members of 2020 force consist of former guerrilla soldiers and pro-independence clandestine groups. Due to their psychological ties, the commander of the F-FDTL, Taur Matan Ruak, who condemned the convictions called upon them and armed them to help the outnumbered F-FDTL in 2006 institutional clashes.

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