The National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction’s (CNRT) Secretary General and former Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Lay, and the former Minister of Health, Sergio Lobo, have failed to attend High Court hearings, sighting they are overseas.

Branco said on Wednesday that the party was concerned Timor-Leste did not have extradition treaties with any countries, and that high-profile Timorese citizens could continue to escape prosecution.

He warned that Lay and Lobo’s case could result in the same stand-off as Timor-Leste’s former Finance minister, Emilia Pires, who has remained in Portugal since 2017 despite the High Court sentencing her to seven year’s jail over corruption charged.

The District Court in Dili found Pires guilty in December 2016 of "crimes of economic participation in business".

Earlier this week, the Chairman of CNRT, Duarte Nunes confirmed that Lay and Lobo would collaborate with the court.

Nunes said the former ministers had received court notifications while they were overseas. He said when they returned to Timor-Leste, they “would fulfil the court summons.”

In the past Lobo has been charged for domestic violence and Lay was previously caught up in a football player scandal, and had the Timor-Leste banned for two years by FIFA.

The pair were two of 11 government cabinet nominations rejected by the President of the Republic Francisco Lu Olo Guterres in June 2018 because of their involvement in corruption investigations.