DILI, 17 december 2021 (TATOLI) – Ingrid Bucens, the spouse of The British Journalist and Filmmaker ‘Max Stahl’ was grateful for the love and the warm welcome they received in Timor-Leste.
“We are very grateful to all the people who have been involved in the organization of the commemoration, yesterday, today, and tomorrow,” Bucens tearfully thanked the Timorese people for the love they received in Timor-Leste.
Bucens also thanked the organizing committee, the veterans, the 12 November committee, the government, Ramos Horta, the people from CAMSTL, and all individuals for the organization of the whole ceremony of the internment of Max’s ashes in Timor-Leste.
“Thank you to Timor and the Timorese people for giving Timor to Max and it’s his home,” he said.
“We are extremely grateful to the fact that announcement has been made; permission has been given for Max’s ashes to be buried in the Santa Cruz Cemetery.”
It’s an honor to us to be recognized as Timorese citizens as it was an honor for Max, he said.
Max Stahl was granted Timorese citizenship in 2009, in honor of his significant contribution to the nation’s independence.
In 1991 Max Stahl arrived in East Timor (now Timor-Leste) where he lived and documented one of the most dramatic moments of the country: the massacre in the Santa Cruz cemetery, in Dili. The images of the massacre were spread around the world and changed forever the history of the nation. In 2019 he received the Necklace of the Order of Timor-Leste, the highest national decoration.
Max Stahl was born on 6 December 1954 in the United Kingdom. He was a journalist and war correspondent, who spent most of his life in Timor-Leste, following the Santa Cruz massacre, in 1991.
Max Stahl, a father of four, died on wednesday (28/10) in Brisbane surrounded by his wife, Ingrid Bucens, and family after battling cancer since 2012.
The ashes of ‘Max Stahl’ arrived in Timor-Leste, accompanied by his wife Ingrid Bucens and children from Australia, on a Qantas flight, at Nicolau Lobato International Airport, on wednesday (15/12) at around 11:45 am local time.
The internment of ashes of Max Stahl would take place on Friday (17/12) at Santa Cruz cemetery where the journalist collected the tragic images and footage of the massacre that shift international attention to the Timorese struggle against the Indonesian occupation.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
