Hendro Subroto: Indo War Correspondent December 1975 Invasion

Alfredo Reinado Dead

Indonesian language tribute video: Odd.

But interesting given the current trial in Dili District Court.

Horta and Portugal Telcom

Private Practice: Beat Your Wife in 2001. Make a Killing in 2009.

There has been much talk of Domestic Violence in Timor-Leste.

The man once tipped to be Minister of Health might have once done some bad things to his wife in 2001.

But since it seems to have made alot of money in private practise and owns one of Dili's most succcessful Apoteks - Foho Osan Mean. Even has a flash website - Click Here. No wonder Timorese women have little faith in the system.

But in 2001 he was the subject of very considerable civil society complaints.

This account is very ugly.

NGO FORUM Account

Subject: Dr. Sergio Lobo detained

The following press release (below in English and Indonesian) came out this morning from the NGO Forum and Rede Feto (the Women's Network). This afternoon, there was a preliminary hearing on the case at which the Investigative Judge decided that Dr. Lobo will remain in detention until his trial for the protection of his wife, the victim in the case, and because there is a risk that he will leave the country. The judge also refused repeated requests from Dr. Lobo and his lawyers to hear directly from their four children (ranging from age 7 to 14) who were present in the courtroom. The children have been in the care of Dr. Lobo and his family since February. There were many people present at the public hearing, including press and local and international monitors.

La'o Hamutuk

Press Release 12 July 2001

Public Figure Detained Again for Domestic Violence

On 10 July 2001, Dr. Sergio Lobo, former Chairman of the Department of Health for ETTA (East Timor Transitional Authority), was detained in Dili for physically assaulting his wife. This detention follows a detention in February 2001 on the same charges. The court is expected to set a trial date for the criminal case against Dr. Lobo sometime in
July.

The NGO Forum,the East Timor Women s Network and the newly formed Judicial System Monitoring Program will be monitoring the case closely. These groups are concerned that the justice system should treat all cases of domestic violence equally seriously and should not demonstrate preferential treatment to accused persons in positions of
power.

This case will set a precedent for future cases of domestic violence and for any cases that involve a high-level official, said Filomena Reis, Advocacy Officer for the East Timor NGO Forum. Our legal system
must treat all people equally.

Civil society groups were stunned when Dr. Lobo was given unconditional release by the court after his arrest in February. Even independent legal observers find the failure of detention of the accused surprising. The case is an important test of the new judicial system of East Timor, said Christian Ranheim, a Norwegian lawyer from
the Judicial System Monitoring Program. We are at the moment looking at pre-trial conditions, including the release of the accused.

In February 2001, Dr. Sergio Lobo was accused of beating his wife with a stick and injecting a sedative into her arm with a syringe he had brought for this purpose. On 9 July 2001, Dr. Lobo was accused of assaulting his wife again at the Hotel Audian. The victim in the case describes a history of severe physical and emotional violence that spans her 15 years of marriage to Dr. Lobo.

Contact Persons:

· Filomena Reis, East Timor NGO Forum (0407-015-968)

· Laura Abrantes, Rede Feto/East Timor Women s Network (0418-840-127)

*************

JSMP Comments to the Sergio Lobo interlocutory appeal.

Mapping Baucau Airport?

As done by BlackKnight63

Bulak duni.

Taxes: Ricegate.

There has been alot of walk about corruption and rice contracts recently.

The Timorese blogging scene has gone slightly BANANAS over the matter of who got what rice contracts. It has even become known as Ricegate - so named by the Timorese Government themselves. English using blogs including this one and others, Portugueses ones like this, and Tetun as well.

The latest from Tempo Semanal has documents which prove that the PM daughter had more than 10% of Prima Food, and that the PM signed 3.5 million rice contract with his daughter-in-law Director of Olifante.

One blogger even went to great lengths to provide Tetun subtitles to a Australian Television news report. Even Twitter has come alive on Ricegate.

ABC News in Australia has been feeding on the rice story for several weeks now.

Gusmao speaks out

East Timor PM defends rice contracts

East Timor PM Xanana Gusmao accused of corruption

With alot of money at stake, over 57 million USD it seems some people have made alot of money, often usually by knowing someone and not being bonefide rice dealer.

If there is is corruption, it may never make the courts: the Minister of Justice is herself the subject of a corruption probe.

Oh well, people need to make money. Some people say the below is a the list of companies and their owners that won contracts.

Company 3 and 7 is partially owned by the wife of the Minister for Economic Development.
Company 4 is held by the PM friend.
Company 10 is partially owned by the daughter of the PM
Company 15 is owned by the PM's son's wive.
and so the show goes on.

1. Serbajaya; $1,615,000, Sudarmadi,
2. Atramor; $1,848,640, Paul dos R. Lemos
3. Belun Feto; $3,842,500, Fon Ha Tchong , Maria A.F.da C , and Milena A.S.de G.S.A
4. Tres AMIGOS; $3,843,500, Germano A.J.da Silva , Koh,Ho
5. Star King; $3,843,000, Lay Su Hing
6. Maubara Fitun Naroman; $3,843,000, Ricardo Cardoso Nheu
7. United Food; $3,842,500, Vitor Lay and Fon Ha Tchong
8. Jubilex; $3,516,000, Julio Lo Kim
9. Monteveado; $3,516,000, Oscarlito Lima
10. Prima Food; $3,516,000, Zenilda E.B.G ,F.d C Alves and Maria de F.da Silva
11. Ran Aitana; $3,516,000, Bernardino dos Santos and Alexandre Pascoal
12. Suai Indah; $3,516,000, Natalino Ferrajota Simao and Jo Jung Tsing
13. Hercio International; $3,516,000, Hercio Campos
14. Veteran General; $3,516,000, Adriano de Camara
15. Olifante; $3,516,000, Carminda Carlota , Jorge Manuel Pinto Serano . and Julio Alvaro .
16. Taci; $3,516,000, Henrique Tam and Ha Hin Sung
17. Lunarsol; $3,516,000, Manuel Tavares Amaral

But they also need to pay their taxes....

Assuming a 10% profit margin, the above persons/companies made 5.7 million USD from these rice contracts. Assuming a 10% rate of tax they owe the Government and people of Timor-Leste 570,000 USD in tax. Cheap at the price.

Ok get a contract through family and friends, fine. But please pay your tax. Timor's new (2008) tax regime is analysed here.

Oecusse Parliament? $700.000

DROO, Demokratic Republic of Oecusse?

USA: OFFICIAL POSITION

On the one hand the USA pays 25 cents of every dollar of UNMIT's $200 million/year budget - much of which is spent on PNTL assistance through UNPOL, and GNR rations etc.... on the other hand it tells its citizens to be careful, as PNTL, UNPOL/GNR, or maybe F-FDTL migth shoot them by accident.

The U.S. Embassy in Dili would like to inform U.S. citizens that a number of security-related incidents have occurred in recent weeks at popular dining and entertainment establishments in Dili. These incidents, which typically have taken place during late night/early morning hours, have involved the use of weapons, including the discharge of firearms. The Embassy urges Americans to maintain constant vigilance and security self-awareness when visiting dining and entertainment establishments that are frequented by personnel from the various law enforcement and military entities present in Timor-Leste, particularly those establishments that serve alcohol.

Americans living and traveling in Timor-Leste are urged to register and update their contact information with the U.S. Embassy in Dili. Registration facilitates the U.S. Mission's contact with Americans in emergency situations, and may be done on line and in advance of travel. Information on registering can be found at the U.S. Department of State's Consular Affairs website at http://travelregistration.state.gov, at the Embassy's website at http://timor-leste.usembassy.gov. Travel Alerts, Worldwide Cautions, and recent warden messages are posted on the Embassy website.

The Embassy is located on Avenida de Portugal, Praia dos Coqueiros, Dili. The 24-hour emergency telephone number is (670) 723-1328. During regular business hours the Embassy can be reached at (670) 332-4684 or ConsDili@state.gov.

[This message was distributed via the east-timor news list. For info on how to subscribe send a blank e-mail to info@etan.org. To support ETAN see http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm ]

Missing weapons? Well missing for some, but not for all.

These photos sent in to The Dili Insider by three different readers in the last ten days.

Apparently, but not certainly, taken in the mountains of Aileu, they picture three juvenile young Timorese men posing with a F2000 machine gun and Glock handgun. One reader suggested these were taken in 2007, but it is not certain. It is not clear if these are police officers, as they are police weapons, or if they are merely civilians, showing off in a childish, although symbolic of some mentality, manner.

One reader even went so far as to say "Check out these guys.... The guy alone is apparently Paulo Martins' son but I can't confirm it. He is on facebook."

Facebook.... Swimming or motorcycle goggles and a submachine gun. Stylish.

A Timorese James Bond?

Fond of International Travel; smooth sunglasses; dressing well; the relaxed tough guy look; and what else?

Kiss kiss. Bang Bang. Jaime Bond.

Balibo 1975 or 2008?

Balibo: great movie.

But they smoke LA cigarettes in those days, as seen on left hand side of table? And it seems unlikley Aquase bottled water and Snowman V.1 roller point pens were around in 1975 too. But go and watch.

One day after post DI admits to getting it wrong. Cannot be right all the time: But we try.

From a reader: Yes. LA's and Aquase are available in those days, i.e. "the present day". This is a still from scene where Juliana tells her story to the CAVR interviewer, which obviously takes somewhere in the present day.

From another reader: The scene you feature is at the beginning of the film, which is set in the
present day, when Juliana is being interviewed. Of course, it's fun to look out for anachronisms in films like this, but I couldn't really see any in this one. It was handy that there were still left hand drive jeeps around, as Portuguese Timor drove on the right, although there is a 'keep left' sign in one scene. I was one of the first people to have seen the film in the UK, as I had the chance to go to a preview - I hope it fares better in cinemas worldwide than 'Answered by Fire' did on TV.

From another reader: Isn't this the part of the film where Juliana is back to Timor-Leste now, after independence? I think this part is were Juliana goes for the interview with CAVR comisao de amizade e verdade.

Female Sexuality in Timor? Wonder what the Bishops think....

Timor Post and STL June 2009

This ad was in major dailes for over a week.

So much for restricting women's behaviour and free choice.

Xman Loves to Dance the Dance

More missing guns, again. TP 29 June 2009

Husi Twitter - UN Vehicle 0302 - Se Mak Ne'e?

15 mins ago, Toyota Prado UN 0302, nearly hit a PNTL on motorbike @ Aru Cafe i'section, Pt Kelapa. UNPOL driving too fast & irresponsibly.about 18 hours ago from TwitterFon

Jendral LM iha Wiki

Longuinhos Rabindranatha Tagore Domingos de Castro Monteiro, S.H. lahir di Maliana Distrik Bobonaro, 20 Desember 1968; umur 40 tahun) adalah Komandan Umum PNTL saat ini dengan pangkat Sub Komisaris (Sub-Comissário). Ia dilantik sebagai Komandan Umum PNTL pada tanggal 27 Maret 2009 tepat pada perayaan HUT PNTL yang kesembilan. Sebelumnya beliau menjabat sebagai Jaksa Agung (Procurador Geral da República). Penunjukkannya ini menuai banyak protes karena melanggar undang-undang PNTL yang menyebutkan bahwa pengangkatan komandan umum PNTL harus berasal dari dalam institusi PNTL sendiri.

husi - http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longuinhos_Monteiro

Bishops and Free Sex

Timor Post 29 Junho 2009

CPD-RDTL Maliana Demo 29 June 09

Some CPD-RDTL people in the mountains of Timor who are not happy with government policy on decentralisation and high salaries for government people.

CPD-RDTL have been doing this sort of protesting ever since 1999. Professional demo organisers for the last decade - the secret of their success? Identify things that ordinary people are angry about.