By Sean Healy
Organisers of the 26th Resistance national conference have scheduled a special tribute to murdered East Timorese resistance leader David Alex as part of the conference.
Alex, the second in command of the Falintil guerillas, was shot by Indonesian troops on June 26. The Indonesian military claim he died in a helicopter on his way to hospital, but the circumstances are clearly suspicious.
The killing has angered and dismayed both East Timorese people and supporters of a free East Timor. Protest actions and pickets were called nationwide in the days following news of Alex's death, with more planned for the coming week.
The tribute will feature speeches by Naldo Rai, a Jakarta-based East Timorese activist, and by representatives of East Timorese organisations in Australia, including the RNJT (Timorese National Youth Resistance).
Conference organiser Sarah Peart said, "The commemoration will be an important part of the conference. A big part of what Resistance does is solidarity with peoples fighting oppression internationally — and solidarity with East Timor is central to that.
"The death of a leader like David Alex has to produce protest in this country; people have to know what has happened."
Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor will be a major feature of the conference, with a panel on the struggle for democracy in Indonesia scheduled for Saturday, July 5.
This panel, entitled "The Final Year of Suharto?", will feature Nico Warouw, the international representative of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), who will outline the policy and aims of the underground PRD and give an account of the PRD's involvement in the anti-Suharto upsurge which occurred during the May election campaign.
Also on the panel, Sarah Peart, speaking on behalf of Resistance, will explain the need for Australians to come behind the movement in Indonesia and to educate and mobilise people here against the federal government's support for the Suharto dictatorship.
More than 200 activists from around Australia are expected to attend the Resistance national conference. Discussions are planned on the campaign against racism, organising on high schools and campuses and on a wide range of political issues, from women's rights to the environment.
The conference will be launched with a public meeting on the night of Thursday, July 3, entitled "Fighting Howard and Hanson's Racism". This will feature speakers involved in organising the protests against Pauline Hanson.
The commemoration for David Alex is planned for Saturday, July 5, at 6pm. The Resistance conference will be held at 14 Anthony St, Melbourne. Information about registering for the conference can be obtained from (03) 9329 1277.