JURIST - Paper Chase: East Timor parliament urges international probe into assassination attempts

[JURIST] The National Parliament of East Timor [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] voted Monday to recommend that an international commission be formed to investigate last month's assassination attempts against East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao [BBC profiles]. The parliament urged that the government coordinate with the United Nations to establish the commission, which should include a variety of experts from several countries. Parliament noted that its power to recommend such action derives from Article 92 of the young country's constitution [PDF text], which gives the body "legislative supervisory and political decision making powers."

On Monday, a suspect in the assassination attempt surrendered [JURIST report] to authorities; so far he is the only person in custody in connection with the attacks. Ramos-Horta, the second president since the small island nation gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, was transferred out of intensive care [The Age report] Monday after awaking from a coma [CNN report] following gunshots he sustained during the attacks. He has expressed forgiveness for his attackers, including rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, who led the other rebels to Horta's home and was killed in the ensuing gunfight. Reinado had led previous revolts against the government and drew wide support from some members of the ruling coalition. Gusmao was the subject of a second attack on the same day but escaped unharmed. AFP has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...