A court has sentenced ten militiamen to prison terms ranging from four to 33 years for their part in East Timor's bloody break with Indonesia.
It is the first trial for crimes against humanity committed in the 1999 uprising.
Seven of the men were convicted in the murders of nine people, including a Roman Catholic priest, two nuns and an Indonesian journalist, near the eastern town of Los Palos on September 25th, 1999. Three others were found guilty of torture and forced deportations.
The leader of the militia gang, Joni Marques, was found guilty on five counts and will serve the maximum 33-year prison term.
Brazilian judge Marcelo da Costa handed down prison terms ranging from 17 to 33 years to his accomplices.
Although former militiamen have been convicted in the past on single counts of murder, torture and rape, the verdicts are the first for crimes against humanity - meaning they were part of an orchestrated, long-term terror campaign.
The convictions are a significant step in bringing to justice those responsible for the violence in 1999, when East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia.
Hundreds of people were murdered and over 80 per cent of the territory's infrastructure destroyed by the militias and their Indonesian military backers.
AP