[JURIST] Former East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri [BBC profile] was again summoned on Friday for questioning on July 20 by the lead prosecutor of East Timor, this time as a suspect, to answer questions in an investigation into the distribution of illegal weapons to local militias. Alkatiri refused an earlier summons [JURIST report] last month, claiming immunity from criminal prosecution as a member of Parliament. Alkatiri resigned [BBC report] in June, and was automatically awarded a seat in Parliament. Alkatiri, who proclaimed his innocence during a TV broadcast last month, has been reportedly implicated in the weapons case by his associate and former Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato. Prosecutors charged [JURIST report] Lobato in connection with the case in June.

The UN is investigating the violence [JURIST report] that has surged in East Timor since April. East Timor [JURIST news archive] was a UN protectorate between 1999 and 2002 while the territory transitioned from an Indonesian possession to an independent state. AP has more.