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Australian Federal Police abandons Balibo Five probe

The Australian Federal Police has abandoned a ‘complex’ and ‘difficult’ investigation into the deaths of five Australian journalists known as the ‘Balibo Five’ in East Timor in 1975.

The AFP said there was insufficient evidence to prove there was an offence after an inquest in 2007 found the men had been murdered.

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Brian Peters, 29, Malcolm Rennie, 28, Gary Cunningham, 27, Gregory Shackleton, 29, and Anthony Stewart, 21, were covering the Indonesian invasion of Timor Leste when they were killed in the town of Balibo.

AAP

The Balibo Five journalists killed in East Timor. Photo: AAP

“During the investigation the AFP identified challenges associated with establishing jurisdiction. The investigation continued in an effort to overcome those issues,” the AFP said in a statement.

“However, the AFP has concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence to prove an offence.”

During an inquest into the deaths of the men, New South Wales deputy state coroner Dorelle Pinch said the men were deliberately killed “to prevent (them) from revealing that Indonesian special forces had participated in the attack on Balibo”.

Ms Pinch concluded the men “died from wounds sustained when (they) were shot and or stabbed deliberately, and not in the heat of battle, by members of the Indonesian special forces, including (Commander) Christoforus Da Silva and Captain Yunus Yosfiah on the orders of Captain Yosfiah…”

– with ABC

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