Indonesia’s Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a notorious militia leader accused in attacks that left about 1,000 people dead following East Timor’s 1999 independence vote.

The acquittal will likely anger human rights groups and add weight to calls for the establishment of an international tribunal to try those responsible for the violence.

With Eurico Guterres’ upcoming release, announced late Friday, all 18 suspects originally indicted will have been acquitted or set free.

Vengeful Indonesian soldiers and their militia proxies carried out the violence after East Timor voted in a U.N.-sponsored referendum to break free from 24 years of often-brutal Jakarta rule.

Responding to intense international pressure, Indonesia in 2000 indicted Guterres and 17 other suspects, mostly military and police officers. All were either found not guilty or have since been freed on appeal.

Guterres was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2002 on charges of failing to stop men under his command from attacking independence supporters.

Supreme Court judge Djoko Sarwoko said the verdict was overturned because Guterres’ militia was formed by command of the then-governor of East Timor, who himself was freed on appeal in 2004. He gave no more details.

Guterres is expected to be released within days.

Indonesia and East Timor formed a commission in 2005 to investigate the violence and promote reconciliation. It is due to present its findings later this year.

The commission has no power to prosecute individuals or order anyone to testify. It could also recommend amnesties to people found guilty of major crimes.

The United Nations is boycotting the commission because of the amnesty provision. Human rights advocates have dismissed it as a facade.

East Timorese leaders are not publicly calling for more trials or an international tribunal out of fear of upsetting Indonesia, a key trading partner.

The prospect of an international tribunal is seen as very slim, in large part because the United States and other Western powers do not want to antagonize Indonesia, a moderate, Muslim nation that only recently became a democracy.