INDONESIAN CHARGES

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29089, 29 December 1959, Page 9

INDONESIAN CHARGES

American On Trial DJAKARTA, December 28. An American flyer, Allan Lawrence Pope, faces the death penalty on charges of having flown a bomber for the Indonesian rebels against the legal Government of the Republic. Alternative sentences on the charges read in a Djakarta Military Court today are imprisonment for life or 20 years. The hearing was adjourned until January 2. The Indonesian Government alleges that Pope flew a rebel Mitchell bomber in strikes on eastern Provinces of the Republic before he was shot down by anti-aircraft batteries over Ambon in May, 1958. Pope was charged with helping the rebels against the legal Government of Indonesia and with carrying arms during time of war. Then followed a list of charges alleging that he bombed and strafed various points in the eastern Provinces. The prosecution successfully asked for an adjournment after the defence questioned the validity of the charges. The defence counsel complained about the time he and his client had been allowed to study the charges. He said they had been delivered to Pope only on December 14 and an official English translation was not available until December 26. He also called in question the validity of the charges. He said the nationality of the accused and the aircraft were not stated. “We are not certain how far the Geneva Convention is valid in Indonesia, and whether this case involves a foreigner or foreign aircraft.” The prosecutor said he could not accept the first objection by the defence. He thought the handing of charges to Pope on December 14 allowed adequate time for a study of them. He said on the second objection he would like an adjournment since this raised new points that would have to be investigated.