25 October 2012

Timor-Leste Legal News 24 October 2012

Police officer threatens to assault State Secretary for Social Security - Suara Timor Lorosae reported today that a police officer threatened to assault the  State Secretary for Social Security (SESS), Vitor da Costa. on Tuesday 23, in Bidau Toko Baru.

Mr. Vitor explained that on in the early morning that day,  he was exercising on a bicycle in front of Bidau Toko Baru and he saw a police car and a taxi stopped in the middle of road that were obstructing other road users. He attempted to speak to the police officer but the police officer threatened to beat him.

“I saw the police car with its emergency light was on and a taxi stopped in the middle of the road which was stopping others from passing so I tried to talk to the police officer but did not want to hear me and he threatened to beat me if I continued to talk,” he said.
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Police confiscate 22 state cars -  Diario Nacional reported today that the Police Transportation Unit had confiscated 22 state cars which were being driven by civil servants for private purposes.

The coordinated operation between the police and the national directorate for the state's patrimony said the reason for the operation was that some civil servant used the state cars on holidays.  The drivers did not have the necessary documentation authorising them to use the vehicles.

Yesterday, Suara Timor Lorosae reported that the Deputy Prime Minister Fernando de Araujo said that he will deploy the police at all fuel stations in the country to seize private cars and motorcycles that refuel using state coupons to pay.

"I will contact with Prime Minister to seek authorisation to implement this plan in all fuel stations throughout the country."

These actions by the state authorities appear to be real efforts to curb corrupt behavior of government officials.
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98% of border with Indonesia resolved - STL reported today that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jose Luis Guterres, said the land dispute at the border area between East Timor and Indonesia had been 98% resolved although there were still some problems in the remaining unresolved border areas.

“We have been discussing the land border problem for a long time but there are still some problems such as the recent construction of a building in the neutral zone that caused some conflict between the citizens of the two countries" he said.

He added that there was a technical team that would hold discussions with the Indonesian team and together they would visit the places that still in dispute such as Naktuka in Oe-Cusse to define the border.

Related stories
Border Dispute, Oekusi Enclave - 60,000 Timorese Inside Indonesia
Three Sections of RI-Timor Leste Border Still Disputed
Residents on the Indonesia-East Timor Border agree to Resolve Conflict through Adat
Clash Erupts Between Indonesians, East Timorese in Neutral Zone
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UNMIT fails to bring criminals author to international court - Diario Nacional reported today a statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Luis Guteres that while the United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor was about to end, they had failed to bring criminals to the international court.

“UNMIT has helped the country in many sectors but they have failed to bring criminal authors of human rights violations in Timor-Leste during the Indonesian occupation to the international court,” Guterres said.

Guterres also express thanks to UNMIT because the building of a new country is not easy and because of UNMIT's presence, Timor-Leste has achieved a peaceful and stable environment.
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Police arrest 5 foreigners on suspicion of drug trafficking - Radio Televizaun de Timor-Leste reported today the the police have arrested five foreign people who brought illegal drugs to Timor-Leste.

The five arrested foreigner falsified documents to bring illegal drugs through Nicolao Lobato Airport without legal documents.


Criminal Investigation Commander Calistro Gonzaga said of the five of foreign people, four of them come from Indonesia and one was from Africa.

“They are five men one of them is from South Africa and four are from Indonesia,” Gonzaga said.

Related story Indonesians and Mozambiquans arrested on suspicion of importing 8 kgs of methamphetamine to Timor-Leste

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