Australia
Court hears evidence on death of five journalistsPosted Feb 25 2007
A coroner’s court heard evidence on Feb. 7 in the deaths of five Australian television journalists killed in East Timor more than 30 years ago. The Guardian reported that details emerged in the ongoing inquiry that a top Indonesian military commander, Captain Mohammed Yunus Yosfiah, who later became a cabinet minister in Jakarta, intentionally killed the five men from England, Australia and New Zealand. An East Timorese witness testified that he saw the commander and 20 soldiers fire on the journalists as they tried to surrender in Balibo on Oct. 16, 1975. Mr. Yosfiah has dismissed the allegations and called the unnamed witness a liar. The Indonesian government has maintained the men were killed in crossfire, but the families of the deceased believed they were targeted and murdered for their footage of the East Timor government, according to The Guardian’s report of the recent inquest.