(20 Feb 2001) English/Nat
East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres was feted as a hero by supporters on Tuesday when he left a Jakarta prison and was placed under house arrest.
A court, which is trying Guterres for weapons charges, ordered the transfer after his defense lawyers promised he would not flee.
Guterres is accused of ordering his followers last year to take back weapons they had surrendered to police in Indonesian-controlled West Timor as part of a disarmament program.
Guterres said he was innocent of the charges against him and accused prosecutors of mounting a "politically motivated" case.
"I am not guilty," he said to several dozen cheering supporters outside Jakarta's Salemba Prison.
His trial is regarded as a key test of Indonesia's commitments made to the United Nations to bring those responsible for violence in West and East Timor to justice.
Guterres' gang and other militia, aided by parts of the Indonesian military, destroyed much of East Timor in September 1999 after the territory voted in a U.N.-organized ballot to break free of Indonesian rule.
SOUNDBITE: (Indonesian)
"It is a pity that because of international pressure the government should repress and arrest us, that is those of us who have been defending the red and white flag (i.e. Indonesia)."
SUPER CAPTION: Eurico Guterres, East Timor Aitarak militia leader
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