---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ++ Pemilu Online: http://www.indo-news.com/pemilu/ ++ ---------------------------------------------------------- ANTARA, JULY 12 1999 E Timor: UNAMET Officials Violating Laws Can Be Tried In Court Dili, E. Timor, July 11 (ANTARA) - All compounds and members of the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) are under the protection of the Indonesian police so that any of the who violate existing laws can be tried in court, a Dili court prosecutor has said. Unfortunately, a lot of East Timorese have misinterpreted the UNAMET presence because they think that its officials have legal or political immunity like ambassadors or consuls, Yohannes Priyama, SH told reporters here Sunday. "Many people think they are like ambassadors or conculs who have legal or diplomatic immunity," he said. Priyama said the UNAMET officials will be tried in Indonesia court if they violate Indonesian laws because as long as the ballot results have not yet recognised, Indonesian laws can still be imposed of them. In the New York agreement, it has been made clear that UNAMET is in charge of disseminating the UN-supported autonomy package and organising a popular consultation on autonomy in August, while security is fully in the hands of the Indonesian police. Moreover, the UNAMET compounds can not be equalized to the status of foreign consulate or embassy buildings because they have no legal immunity. The United Nations itself has recognised that UNAMET has no legal immunity, he said. In connection with the Maliana and Liquica incidents, Priyama said the two cases show the misinterpretation of certain quarters of East Timorese society towards UNAMET's presence. They have wrongly judged that UNAMET has legal immunity, so they went to the UNAMET officials for self protection. "How can the local people ask for protection from UNAMET, while UNAMET itself recognizes security matter to the police," he said, underlining that the polemics on UNAMET's presence emerged because UNAMET personnel did not understand their presence here. The UNAMET officials tend to act here as if they are in their respective countries. They think that they need not respect Indonesian laws, he said. Priyama further noted that the driving licenses, used by drivers of UNAMET vehicles are not internationally valid, and it has no authority to issue driving licenses of their drivers. In this case, the drivers must respect Indonesia's traffic regulations. "In court proceedings for those breaking traffic regulations, we have warned the UNAMET drivers to be careful." "They can not drive their cars as they like. They should respect our laws," he said. ANTARA noted that UNAMET cars have so far incurred at least three accidents, one of which had been tried in Dili Court. The collision between a pastor's car and UNAMET's remains under investigation. (T.DLI-001/NN-03/12:37/INT-TA/nn-03/tb03) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 13 Jul 1999 jam 07:54:35 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
