RI REAFFIRMS BALIBO CASE CLOSED

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 18 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government reaffirmed its stand last weekend that the case of five Australian-based journalists killed in a crossfire between Indonesian troops and Fretilin fighters in Balibo in 1975 had been closed.

        "There is no reason for reopening the case," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kristiarto Soerya Legowo said in response to Friday's New South Wales Glebe Coroner's Court decision stating that Indonesian Army personnel had killed the journalists. <br>
        Indonesia saw that the South Wales court's decision had limited jurisdiction. "It has limited jurisdiction and will not change Indonesia's stand," Kristarto said.

        A New South Wales coroner has found Indonesian forces deliberately killed the five Australian-based journalists.

        Deputy State Coroner Dorelle Pinch delivered her findings at the Glebe Coroner's Court on the death of Brian Peters, one of the five journalists who were also referred to as 'Balibo Five'.

        The Balibo Five was made up of two Australians, reporter Greg Shackleton, 27, and sound recordist Tony Stewart, 21, and a New Zealander, cameraman Gary Cunningham, 27, for HSV-7 in Melbourne, and two Britons, cameraman Brian Peters, 29, and reporter Malcolm Rennie, 28, working for TCN-9 in Sydney.

        Pinch's findings follow after a six-week inquest earlier this year which heard evidence about the circumstances of the death of all five newsmen.

        She told the court the men did not die in crossfire between Indonesian troops and Fretilin fighters but were deliberately killed on the orders of the Indonesian field commander, Captain Yunus Yosfiah.

        However, Gough Whitlam, who was prime minister during the Balibo incident, told the Sydney inquest last May he never saw any material suggesting the Indonesian military ordered the killing of the five journalists.

        He told Sydney's Glebe Coroner's Court that a month before the incident he had warned one of the newsmen that the Australian government had no way of protecting them if they traveled to East Timor. He said despite his advice the man was determined to go anyway.

        Whitlam said the first time he heard the men had died was five days after it happened, when he was told about an intercepted Indonesian military message, saying there were four white bodies at Balibo.

        He told the court he had not seen any material suggesting that the Indonesians were planning to kill the men, and he said at no time had he seen anything suggesting that they were deliberately targeted for execution.

        According to Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono the Indonesian military had not done anything wrong. "The case was closed 15 years ago," he said.

        "That was according to the legal system in New South Wales. What I know is that the case was already considered finished 15 years ago. Australia's Attorney General had admitted that the Indonesian military had not done anything wrong," he said.

        The minister said that before he became ambassador to England he met with the families of two of the deceased journalists and they said they considered the matter finished.

        "I met with their uncles and aunts. According to them, the case was already closed. They only wished to express regrets. At the time as an ambassador I said 'we share your feelings'," he said.

        The minister said he would not take any action in reaction to the New South Wales court's decision and would refer it to the Indonesian embassy in Australia.

        The embassy in Canberra said Indonesia considered that the case had been closed since a long time ago. "Our position is that the Balibo Five has been closed," Embassy spokesman, Dino Kusnadi, said.

        Therefore, Indonesia and Australia should better look to the future and develop their good relations. The Foreign Ministry said the Balibo Five issue would by no means affect both nations' relations because it happened 30 years ago.

        "Certain parties have tried to raise the issue over the past 30 years but they always failed," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said.

        Indonesia and Australia have a comprehensive agreement and consensus so that the Balibo Five issue, though often raised, would not shake theie good relations, he said.

        (T.A014/A/hng/A014) (T.A014/A/A014/A/A014) 18-11-2007 23:29:21