Former armed forces chief Wiranto yesterday blamed the systematic militia violence in East Timor on the UN-administered ballot of August 1999, and on 'emotional and uneducated' East Timorese.
Rather than being the architect of militia rampages which left hundreds dead and saw 250,000 East Timorese forced out of their homes, Mr Wiranto said he was the peacemaker.
The retired general has yet to answer a summons to face trial on war crimes charges but was in court yesterday as a witness for former East Timor police chief Timbul Silaen, who is charged with crimes against humanity.
'The chaos happened because of dissatisfaction over the irregularities in the vote,' Mr Wiranto said.
Indonesian officials were openly shocked when results from the 1999 ballot showed an overwhelming vote by East Timor to secede from Indonesia, which had invaded the former Portuguese colony in December 1975.
'I tried to reconcile the two conflicting parties,' he said during a press conference after the trial adjourned. 'I imposed a state of emergency aimed at restoring peace and order in East Timor. I have done a lot.'
His position reflects the standard Indonesian ideology that the loss of its 27th province was due to meddling by outsiders, rather than Indonesia's record of terror in the territory.