As Timor-Leste is about to join ASEAN regional block later this month, a senior official with oversight over the national intelligence agency has gone public with explosive claims that Timorese institutions are allegedly being bought by organized crime – writes Jo Adetunji

Two decades after Timor-Leste gained its independence, the country is a complicated and qualified success story. Poverty and deep economic problems persist, but the country boasts a thriving democracy. Its ascension to the ASEAN regional bloc will come later this month.

As this milestone approaches, however, a senior official with oversight over the national intelligence agency has gone public with explosive claims that Timorese institutions are allegedly being bought by organized crime.

His concerns come after a recent UN report that describes in vivid detail a sophisticated attempt by figures linked to triad gangs in China and Southeast Asia to allegedly establish a base of operations in the Timorese region of Oecusse-Ambeno.

If the allegations are true, they could pose the one of the greatest tests for Timor-Leste in its short history. Is its democracy robust enough to confront the challenge?

Allegations of corruption

Agio Pereira is the Timorese minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. He is one of the most powerful elected officials in his country.

On September 21, Pereira published on Facebook what he called A Manifesto for the Defence of Timor-Leste. In it, he claims to have “undeniable and damning evidence” that US$45 million (A$68 million) has been brought (in some cases flown) into the country by “transnational criminal syndicates from Cambodia, Malaysia, Macau and Hong Kong”.

He says the money was allegedly used to influence regulatory bodies to grant “fraudulent licenses” and set up “protected enclaves” where “illegal gambling, cyber-scam centers and human trafficking would be able to operate under state protection”.

He said the country faces a simple choice:

Will we be a sovereign nation governed by democratic laws and institutions, or will we become a criminal state owned by foreign mafia syndicates?

Pereira also listed numerous demands, including:

the revocation of any licenses that may have been granted to criminal networks

government cooperation with international law........

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