The 25th anniversary of the successful vote for independence by Timor-Leste was marked on August 30. Leo Earle took these photos for Green Left.
Timor-Leste (East Timor)
Leo Earle interviewed former political exile, LGBTQ activist and presidential advisor, Bella Galhos, on a recent visit to Timor Leste.
Joviana Guterres works for justice and rights for women victims of past violations of human rights in Timor Leste. She spoke to Green Left’s Coral Wynter and Jim McIlroy during their recent visit to the capital, Dili.
Timor-Leste voted in a new parliament on May 21 — one which will likely see the return of Xanana Gusmão as Prime Minister, reports Leo Earle.
The Circle of Silence is a work of witness, remembrance and hope, writes Leo Earle.
Had the farcical prosecution of former ACT Attorney General Bernard Collaery gone on, all suspicions about a legal system slanted in favour of the national security state would have been answered, argues Binoy Kampmark.
Timor-Leste joined the global climate strike for the first time, on September 24.
More than 400 people took part in the climate strike in the capital, Dili. The protest stared from the Palacio Governo, marching to Bidau for speeches and a concert.
Well-known justice activist Shirley Shackleton managed to interrupt celebrations in Dili marking the 20th anniversary of Timor Leste’s independence to hand a petition demanding Australia end its persecution of Bernard Collaery and Witness K to Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
Shackleton’s husband, Greg, was murdered in Balibo along with four other journalists in 1975. She has never given up the quest for justice.
La’o Hamutuk and other Timor-Leste civil society organisations hosted an international conference in Dili from August 28–30, to mark the 20th anniversary of Timor-Leste’s independence referendum.
The Movement Against the Occupation of the Timor Sea (MKOTT), a Timorese activist group based in Dili, condemned the Australian government on August 9 for its ongoing prosecution of Witness K and his lawyer Bernard Collaery, over the exposure of Australian secret service bugging of Timorese government offices, labelling it as an "attack on freedom of expression and democracy".
The federal Attorney General’s case against a defendant dubbed “Witness K” began in the ACT Magistrates Court on September 12. Media reports say Witness K is a serving Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) officer.
Activists from the Movement Against the Occupation of the Timor Sea (MKOTT) delivered a 10-metre-long banner covered with the signatures of 1300 Timorese to the Australian embassy in Dili on September 16. The signatures were collected in protest at the Australian government's persecution of former spy Witness K and his lawyer Bernard Collaery, for allegedly blowing the whistle on the 2004 bugging of Timor-Leste Cabinet offices by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS).
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