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Jornal Nacional Diário - Dili, 31 August 2010 - Translation from Tetum
Dili – It has not just been civil society but also Bishop Dom Basilio do Nascimento who considers the decision of the President of the Republic to pardon Gstao Salsinha and his group as weakening Timor-Leste’s justice system because he has pardoned them too early.
“To me the gravest thing about this decision is that it may hinder justice from working in this country. Firstly, it means there is a lack of confidence in justice officers, secondly, it can make this country unmotivated because it will be said that there is no justice,that anyone can commit any crime and after the court has sentenced someone to imprisonment Mister President can pardon that person,” lamented the Baucau Diocese Bishop Dom Basilio Nascimento to journalists at his Baucau Diocese Ecclesiastical Chambers on Friday 27August last.
Dom Basilio added that, the President made his decision to pardon Salsinha and his group, because the President interpreted the law as he saw it, aspired, thought and according to his knowledge, but it has the consequence of arousing a number of problems.
“That is right, according to the President’s viewpoint the decision was correct, in his eyes, his aspirations, his thinking and knowledge,but now that it has been taken I think that the decision taken by the President will arouse a number of problems,” said Dom Basilio.
Dom Basilio has asked that this decision is not repeated in the future, because the Bishop’s view is that if Timor-Leste continues with such decisions then the justice system will be weakened.
“Because these people who were sentenced to imprisonment had yet to complete a third of their sentence, so if we keep going with decisions like this one then our justice system itself will be weakened, because justice officers will no lose their motivation to perform their duty and public opinion can also begin to head in this path, they can say,so the constitutional bodies do not understand each other, and thieves and criminals will also feel free to do what they want because after the courts have sentenced them, a mere three months afterwards the President will pardon them, so they feel they can just engage in any criminal conduct,” affirmed the Bishop of the Diocese of Baucau.
The head of the Diocese of Baucau added that the President had not weighed it up properly before he made the decision regarding the prisoners Gastao Salsinha and his group.
Now what the President should have thought of is this, how should he make his decision, because he only looked at how to be compassionate to Mister Salsinha and his group which we do not question, he is compassionate as I have said, but he aroused a number of problems which the President had not thought of.
The Bishop also said that the judicial bodies were of no worth because the President of the Republic’s pardon decision has resulted in a loss of the rule of law for the nation.“If I was a court officer, I would ask myself, do I have any worth to this country? If there is no worth then lets not fool around because after the judicial officers, after they make their decision, after someone is tried in court, but we say then what, the President pardons them and that is it,” Bishop Basilio pointed out.
Because of this Bishop Basilio said, whatever the judicial bodies do is of no value because the President’s pardon has resulted in a loss of the rule of law to the nation.
“I think it is wrong, I do not personally question the President’s reasoning in deciding to grant the pardons, but the pardon decision is what has lead me to interpret what the result of the President’s decision has been, it is a big question mark for me, instead of resolving a problem he has instead created a number of additional problems,” Bishop Basilio pointed out. (ino)
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Jornal Nacional Diário - Dili, 31 August 2010 - Translation from Tetum
Dili – It has not just been civil society but also Bishop Dom Basilio do Nascimento who considers the decision of the President of the Republic to pardon Gstao Salsinha and his group as weakening Timor-Leste’s justice system because he has pardoned them too early.
“To me the gravest thing about this decision is that it may hinder justice from working in this country. Firstly, it means there is a lack of confidence in justice officers, secondly, it can make this country unmotivated because it will be said that there is no justice,that anyone can commit any crime and after the court has sentenced someone to imprisonment Mister President can pardon that person,” lamented the Baucau Diocese Bishop Dom Basilio Nascimento to journalists at his Baucau Diocese Ecclesiastical Chambers on Friday 27August last.
Dom Basilio added that, the President made his decision to pardon Salsinha and his group, because the President interpreted the law as he saw it, aspired, thought and according to his knowledge, but it has the consequence of arousing a number of problems.
“That is right, according to the President’s viewpoint the decision was correct, in his eyes, his aspirations, his thinking and knowledge,but now that it has been taken I think that the decision taken by the President will arouse a number of problems,” said Dom Basilio.
Dom Basilio has asked that this decision is not repeated in the future, because the Bishop’s view is that if Timor-Leste continues with such decisions then the justice system will be weakened.
“Because these people who were sentenced to imprisonment had yet to complete a third of their sentence, so if we keep going with decisions like this one then our justice system itself will be weakened, because justice officers will no lose their motivation to perform their duty and public opinion can also begin to head in this path, they can say,so the constitutional bodies do not understand each other, and thieves and criminals will also feel free to do what they want because after the courts have sentenced them, a mere three months afterwards the President will pardon them, so they feel they can just engage in any criminal conduct,” affirmed the Bishop of the Diocese of Baucau.
The head of the Diocese of Baucau added that the President had not weighed it up properly before he made the decision regarding the prisoners Gastao Salsinha and his group.
Now what the President should have thought of is this, how should he make his decision, because he only looked at how to be compassionate to Mister Salsinha and his group which we do not question, he is compassionate as I have said, but he aroused a number of problems which the President had not thought of.
The Bishop also said that the judicial bodies were of no worth because the President of the Republic’s pardon decision has resulted in a loss of the rule of law for the nation.“If I was a court officer, I would ask myself, do I have any worth to this country? If there is no worth then lets not fool around because after the judicial officers, after they make their decision, after someone is tried in court, but we say then what, the President pardons them and that is it,” Bishop Basilio pointed out.
Because of this Bishop Basilio said, whatever the judicial bodies do is of no value because the President’s pardon has resulted in a loss of the rule of law to the nation.
“I think it is wrong, I do not personally question the President’s reasoning in deciding to grant the pardons, but the pardon decision is what has lead me to interpret what the result of the President’s decision has been, it is a big question mark for me, instead of resolving a problem he has instead created a number of additional problems,” Bishop Basilio pointed out. (ino)
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1 comentários:
The problem is that where were these carried out an attempt? It was most probable they were not and the PR must have known this all way long hence their release. So Salsinha and his henchmen could have been inprisoned as miscarriage of justice!
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