A court in Indonesia has sentenced East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres to six months in jail on Monday for inciting violence. Guterres helped direct pro-Jakarta militias that devastated East Timor when the territory voted for independence in 1999.

The short sentence is likely anger human rights groups and the international community. Guterres - who has denied any wrongdoing - might only have to spend a few weeks behind bars because he has already spent several months in detention, his lawyer said.

Guterres, who has been linked to two massacres in East Timor, expressed defiance after the sentence was handed down. "Go ahead, send me to jail, six months is too short. If it's necessary give me 100 years," he told reporters.

Weapons

"What was said by the judges was a lie and very unfair," said Mr Guterres said in court after the verdict, to the cheers of about 50 supporters in paramilitary uniforms. "Eurico Guterres is always ready to defend Indonesia from all threats," he added. Guterres had faced 12 months in prison, well below the maximum sentence of five years. The charges, which also covered illegal weapons possession, were in relation to offences carried out in West Timor last year.

Violent campaign

"The court finds him guilty of ordering his followers to seize back confiscated weapons and sentences him to six months in jail," Chief Judge Suwardi told the North Jakarta District Court. Hundreds of people were killed and about 300,000 others were forced to flee their homes in violence that erupted after the independence vote. Guterres's Aitarak militia, which maintained close ties with Indonesian army, was responsible for much of the violence in and around the capital. With the arrival of an Australian-led peacekeeping force, Guterres's men, along with Indonesian troops and other militia groups, withdrew to neighbouring West Timor.