JAKARTA, Oct 17 (Reuter) - An East Timorese said on Thursday he and two colleagues had been evicted from the French embassy by a Frenchman and security guards while seeking asylum -- but France refused to comment on the allegations.
The three East Timorese entered the embassy grounds in central Jakarta before dawn on Wednesday and were seen and filmed there by Reuters reporters.
One of the three, Alberto da Silva, 23, told Reuters on Thursday they had been "picked up and thrown out" of the embassy after less than two hours by four local security guards and "a white-skinned Frenchman" called by the guards.
Da Silva said they had told the guards they wanted to present a statement to the ambassador and seek asylum in Portugal. The Frenchman had not spoken to them, he said.
Embassy First Secretary Eric Pilloton, asked to comment, replied: "Definitely not. I have no other comment after what I said yesterday."
He referred all further questions to the French Foreign Ministry in Paris.
On Wednesday, when initially asked whether East Timorese had been in the embassy, Pilloton said: "There are no East Timorese here."
When asked later on Wednesday about statements by the East Timorese they had been evicted, he said: "If there is evidence showing that a Timorese went into the embassy, of course, we will cross check again with our guard, then there is something wrong.
"We asked him what happened, and he says 'nothing'. If there is evidence that something has happened, then there is something that is not going correctly."
In Paris, ministry spokesman Jacques Rummelhardt said on Thursday that he too had nothing to add to what he had said a day earlier.
At that time, asked if embassy guards had thrown the men out, Rummelhardt responded: "That is neither the attitude nor the instructions given to the security staff at the French embassy.
"We do not encourage anyone to seek refuge at the embassy," Rummelhardt had added.
Da Silva said he and the other two men, Sabino D'Arujo, 26, and Anatolio Francesco Arujo, 21, were expelled about 6:15 a.m. after the arrival of the "white-skinned Frenchman," who did not attempt to speak to them or identify himself.
"(Arujo) was grabbed around (the) neck, not by the local security, but by the man from the embassy. He was a Frenchman, with white skin," Da Silva said.
"He grabbed my friend and threw him to the ground. Four security guards grabbed him... with one person grabbing each of his hands and feet. They took him like an animal. It was the Frenchman who grabbed his neck," he said.
Some diplomats said that after a series of recent incidents in which East Timorese were turned out of embassies, it appeared some missions were turning a blind eye to the way local security guards employed by foreign embassies dealt with them.
Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in 1975 and annexed it the following year in a move never recognised by the United Nations.
A total of 89 East Timorese have been granted asylum in Portugal after a series of break-ins into Jakarta missions since September 1995.
One diplomat said it appeared embassies were ignoring any moral commitment they might have under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the right of asylum.
The break-in came a day after President Suharto visited East Timor to inaugurate public works projects there and five days after two East Timorese were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, putting Indonesia's controversial rule of the territory back in the spotlight.
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