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Actor's plea for Balibo journalist inquiry
Friday, 11 July, 2008
Anthony LaPaglia (Getty)
Hollywood actor Anthony LaPaglia has called on the Northern Territory government to hold an inquiry into the assassination of an Australian journalist during the invasion of East Timor.
LaPaglia has called for a coronial hearing into the death of Roger East, who was killed while on assignment in the troubled region in December 1975.
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The Australian-born star plays East in Balibo, an upcoming movie about the murder of the so-called Balibo Five - a group of newsmen who died at the hands of Indonesian forces.
East, 51, was in East Timor investigating the men's deaths when he, too, was killed.
The Northern Territory government decided last year not to hold an inquiry into East's death, partly on the grounds he had only lived in Darwin for 10 months before he was killed.
Call to recover remains
But LaPaglia said that should not matter.
"Roger was an Australian citizen... so why does it matter where he was from," he said. "The Northern Territory is still under Australian jurisdiction, right?"
Witnesses said East was shot after being captured by Indonesian troops during the invasion.
No one has ever been tried over his death.
LaPaglia has also called on the federal government to send a forensic team to East Timor to recover the remains of East and the Balibo Five.
Source: SBS/AAP
