East Timor Legal News Television and Radio Reports 24 September 2008

Headlines: Six months provisional sentence for two homicide suspects - Government submits draft law on the penal code to National Parliament - Recruitment of new soldiers can be postponed, says State Secretary for Defence

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Six months provisional sentence for two homicide suspects - Radio Timor-Leste 23 September 2008

Suai District Court decided Tuesday (23/9) to impose six months provisional sentences on two suspects involved in the murder of a teenager in Raifusan sub-village in Betano, Same. The decision to impose the provisional imprisonment was made during the first hearing on the killing of Jorge dos Santos Reis.

The body of the 18 year old man killed last Sunday (21/9) has been handed back to the family to be buried after the post mortem autopsy. The two suspects have been transported to the Becora Penitentiary Centre.

Government submits draft law on the penal code to National Parliament - Radio Timor-Leste 23 September 2008

East Timor's Justice Ministry Lucia Lobato submitted a proposal for a new penal code to the National Parliament on Tuesday (23/9).

After the submission of the proposal, Lobato said the Government wanted to listen to various opinions from the members of the parliament. She also mentioned that in the near future, the ministry would organise a series of public hearings in order to have opinions from various entities regarding the proposed law on the Penal Codes. The proposal will be firstly discussed by the standing Commissions of the Parliament.

Image: East Timor Justice Minister Lucia Lobato

Recruitment for new soldiers can be postponed, says State Secretary for Defence - Televisaun Timor-Leste 23 September 2008

State Secretary for Defence, Julio Thomas Pinto, said recruitment for new Timorese Defence Force soldiers could be postponed until January next year if the law for the recruitment was not approved.

‘If law for the recruitment is yet to be approved by the Parliament, the recruitment can be postponed until January next year. If it were to be approved soon, the recruitment would be held this year,’ Pinto said.Pinto further said that the draft of the law was still in the Council of the Ministers and would later be submitted to the Parliament for approval. According to the Government’s plan, the defence force will recruit only 150 military officers this year.