Aceh rights abuse tribunal to continue, judges say<\/p>\n
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Judges in the joint military-civilian
\ntribunal here ruled on Wednesday to proceed with the trial of 24
\nsoldiers and a civilian charged with mass killings in West Aceh
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
In their pretrial decision, the panel of five judges, led by
\ncivilian judge Ruslan Dahlan, overruled the defense plea for the
\ncharges to be dropped.<\/p>\n
Defense lawyers earlier argued that the soldiers should be
\ntried in a regular court-martial. They also objected to the
\ntribunal on the grounds it was not held at the site of the
\nincident, as ruled by the Criminal Code, and the defendants were
\ncarrying out their superiors' commands.<\/p>\n
The soldiers, mostly from the Army Strategic Reserves Command
\n(Kostrad), and a civilian named Thaleb Amman Suar would face the
\ndeath sentence if convicted of the premeditated murder of Islamic
\nreligious teacher Tengku Bantaqiah and no less than 57 of his
\nstudents in Beutong Ateuh village.<\/p>\n
The Army contended the victims were separatist rebels killed
\nduring a shootout with troops.<\/p>\n
After rejecting the defense plea, the judges heard testimony
\nof the first witness, Lt. Col. Heronimus Guru.<\/p>\n
Heronimus, the commander of Kostrad's 328 battalion, jointly
\nled a team of 215 troops assigned to quell a rebel movement --
\nallegedly involving Bantaqiah and his followers -- along with the
\nnow missing Lt. Col. Sudjono, then the intelligence chief of the
\nLilawangsa Military Command.<\/p>\n
Heronimus said he helped arrange a security operation at
\nBeutong Ateuh village, which the Army suspected was a rebel
\nhideout.<\/p>\n
\"Apart from the official notification, we were briefed
\ndirectly about the operation at the house of Lilawangsa Military
\nCommander Col. Syafnil Armen. We were to arrest group of rioters,
\nBantaqiah and his followers.\"<\/p>\n
He said that based on the intelligence report, Syafnil said
\nBantaqiah had about 300 followers and kept around 100 guns and
\nvarious land mines.<\/p>\n
Heronimus said the incident started when one of his troops,
\nCapt. Anton Yuliantoro, was chased by three armed men as soon as
\nthe troops arrived in the village. One or two shots were heard in
\nthe area.<\/p>\n
\"I ordered Anton as a company commander to stop the shooting.
\nLater I found that Anton was the one who fired the shots in
\ndefense against the three attackers,\" Heronimus said.<\/p>\n
Scheduled testimony from Nur Farisah and Nur Lia, both wives
\nof Tengku Bantaqiah, was not heard. Details on their absence from
\nthe hearing were unavailable.<\/p>\n
The trial was adjourned until Saturday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, security operations to quell rebels of the Free
\nAceh Movement (GAM) continued on Wednesday prior to the visit of
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid to Langsa in East Aceh on Sunday.<\/p>\n
GAM members intercepted a convoy of three Police Mobile
\nBrigade and Gegana vehicles in the Melayu area of Indrajaya
\ndistrict, Pidie, at about 2:30 p.m., police said. The rebels
\nopened fire on the vehicles, but no fatalities were reported.
\n(50\/51\/edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aceh-rights-abuse-tribunal-to-continue-judges-say-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}