East Timor journalists face trial after story on premier

Published October 06, 2016

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2015 file photo, East Timorese Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araujo speaks during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters. Two East Timorese journalists are going on trial in a criminal defamation case brought by Araujo that has alarmed press freedom groups. Raimundos Oki and his former boss Lourenco Vicente Martins are charged with "slanderous denunciation" and face up to three years in prison if found guilty. The trial is set to begin Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. Oki and Martins published a story in the Timor Post last year about Araujo’s involvement in a state contract for information technology services when he was an adviser to East Timor’s finance minister in 2014. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File) (The Associated Press)

Two East Timorese journalists are going on trial in a criminal defamation case brought by the country's prime minister that has alarmed rights groups.

Raimundos Oki and his former boss Lourenco Vicente Martins are charged with "slanderous denunciation" and face up to three years in prison if found guilty. The trial is set to begin Friday.

Rights groups and press advocates have urged that the case be dropped.

Oki and Martins published a story in the Timor Post last year about Prime Minister Rui Aria de Araujo's involvement in a state telecommunications contract when he was an adviser to East Timor's finance minister in 2014.

There was a factual error in the story that the newspaper apologized for.

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https://www.foxnews.com/world/east-timor-journalists-face-trial-after-story-on-premier