The midget intellectuals who regurgitate academic jargon about justice can go on and on dispensing academic judgments on poor little us, but my people, whom I know well, they applaud the wisdom of my policies — that is: heal the wounds, reconcile, and move on… I am not going to play Don Quixote de la Mancha of justice to pursue every seen or unseen culprit of the past.

I mean, wow. The wisdom of his policies. I don't know if JRH has been at the whiskey or what's been going on with him, but this story in the Irish Times came the day after Amnesty International sent out a press release stating that Ramos-Horta had done a 180 and decided he is now in favour of an international tribunal for human rights violations committed in Timor-Leste.

What is he thinking pulling this kind of stuff while he isn't even in the country? I at first wondered if Amnesty had misquoted him or maybe misinterpreted what he said, but I can't say either way for sure. Amnesty's press release doesn't mention when or where he made the comments and he isn't actually directly quoted, so we'll have to wait and see.

It looks like he is taking pot shots at the UN from afar. But he wasn't speaking up when indicted militia leader Maternus Bere was freed by Xanana Gusmao et al. Ramos-Horta was even involved in the freeing.

Answers on a postcard.

Timorese newspaper STL carried a story last week in which police inspector Mateus Fernandes said members of CPD-RDTL and Bua-Malus were launching a coup in Timor-Leste. This is in relation to the "ninja" farce that has been gripping the nation.

How can two groups as small CPD-RDTL and Bua-Malus launch any kind of coup? It's just nonsensical. There's a full-scale police operation going on in Kovalima and Bobonaro. How on earth there could be any sort of coup in Timor-Leste is beyond me.

We're hearing all sorts of reports about human rights violations committed by the police in those districts.

This is the most telling part of the STL story:

Fernandes said that excessive use of power was exercised in order to restore peace and stability in the country, particularly in the districts of Bobonaro and Kovalima.

And then this…

He also mentioned that there is also widespread rumor amongst these groups that that the hands of the PNTL are not tightly tied up with the existing agreement with the UN.

He said that there is such provision but if the people are crying for help, then PNTL are ready to restore peace, stability and tranquility in the country.

That looks to me like a big FU to the UN, no?

CPD-RDTL and Bua-Malus aren't angels. They have created trouble in the past, but nothing that would warrant a full-on paramilitary response by the nation's police force.

CPD-RDTL is a disaffected group doesn't recognise the current state or constitution. Bua-Malus is a kind of sect that mixes animism and Catholicism, I'm told. Last week a bunch of Bua-Malus guys were brought to Dili by the police. They had apparently been issuing Bua-Malus ID cards. It wasn't clear what else they'd done or even if they'd done anything illegal.

The police seem well and truly out of control.

Angie Pires was cleared in Dili today. Twenty-three men were sentenced up to 16 years. Four men got off. I have photos from the trial on my Flickr. I was filing for AFP today, but there are lots of stories on the trial, if you're interested. Everyone was there from Australia, including ABC, The Australian and AAP.

It was a struggle getting to grips with the Portuguese. A lot of the local journalists left confused. Pires looked calm to begin with, but as the trial progressed she almost broke down. Lots of tears and shaking of her head. She looked absolutely exhausted after this seven-month debacle.

She had prepared a statement for the press and said there was never any doubt she would walk free. I can't imagine what she is feeling today, but spare a thought for the 23 men who were sentenced. Theirs is perhaps the bigger story.

This afternoon, three judges in Dili will deliver the most important court verdict in independent Timor-Leste’s history. From ABC:

Australian woman Angelita Pires will today learn her fate over the alleged assassination attempt against two of East Timor's leaders.

Pires is one of 28 people standing trial over the alleged assassination attempt against East Timorese president Jose Ramos-Horta and prime minister Xanana Gusmao in February 2008.

The Australian media loves this story. You can expect it to be all over Aussie media today and tomorrow. Will Angie Pires be found guilty? If so, will she be pardoned? Ramos-Horta has said he may pardon anyone found guilty, but only after an amount of time to be decided by him. Judge Horta. He is the law.

Professor Damien Kingsbury told AP that “[t]he judiciary is under a great deal of scrutiny at the moment and this is easily the single most important case to have ever gone before it”.

We’ve learnt all about Angie Pires thanks to the Australian media. One reporter even went so far as to refer to her as “beautiful”. Are any of the men on trial handsome? Who can be sure?

The big question on my mind is: when is the book coming out?

I don't know what is going on, but upon my return to Dili, I appear to have come down with all sorts of illnesses, all at the same time. First of all my tonsillitis came back, which was unpleasant. Then I caught a cold, which I'm just getting over now. And then I did something weird to my neck, which at first I thought was because I slept funny, but now I'm starting to think it might be something else because one side of my neck, not my throat, hurts a bit when I swallow.

It's been difficult to get back to work with this going on. I think I'm on the mend, but you can never tell with these things. There is definitely something about the water in Dili that my body doesn't agree with. I had some weird skin problems before that went away when I left Dili last year. I don't think it's the climate because I've lived in Southeast Asia for a while now. Maybe it's the dust.