BRAVE PHOTOGRAPHER BATTLES CANCER

British filmmaker and journalist , Max Stahl, whose coverage of Dili’s Santa Cruz Cemetery massacre of 270 protestors by Indonesian forces in November 1991 shocked the world and played a large part in the liberation of East Timor, is fighting throat cancer . The Timor-Leste Council of Ministers decreed that the Minister for Health , Nelson Martins , a medical doctor , should travel to London and support Stahl as a sign of solidarity and appreciation for what he did for the nation. Stahl’s videotape of the outrage was buried in the cemetery from the marauding Indonesians , retrieved the next day and smuggled out , details of which will be covered in a future post . Darwin agronomist, Robert Wesley-Smith, deeply involved in the struggle for freedom in East Timor , has been in contact with Stahl’s partner.