Investigation begins into the Balibo Five Murders

An investigation has commenced, by the Australian Federal Police, into the murders of five Aussie men back in 1975 in East Timor. Sound recordist Tony Stewart, cameramen Brian Peters and Gary Cunningham and television journalists Malcolm Rennie and Greg Shackleton were allegedly assassinated by the Special Forces in Indonesia. In November 2007, the Balibo Five were executed while attempting to capture information regarding the invasion of East Timor by Indonesian troops, NSW Deput Coroner Dorelle Pinch found. ‘The Balibo Five ... were shot and or stabbed deliberately, and not in the heat of battle" in order to silence them from exposing Indonesia's 1975 East Timor invasion’.This has now been referred to Robert McClelland, Attorney General. The investigation begun in August 2009, by the Australian Federal Police. A brief of evidence can be collated depending on the amount of material found. The Australian Federal Police will then pass on their findings to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.