Defense team asks TNI be absolved in Aceh killing<\/p>\n
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Defense lawyers in the joint civilian-
\nmilitary trial here on Saturday demanded that the court acquit
\nthe defendants charged with mass killings in West Aceh last year.<\/p>\n
The 90-minute session which ended at 11 a.m. heard the six-
\nmember defense team led by Col. Burhan Dahlan and Col. Tatang
\nMaskur read their clients' rebuttal.<\/p>\n
"The troops only carried out orders from their superiors and
\ntherefore did not commit any crime," Tatang said.<\/p>\n
A total of 25 defendants, 24 military personnel and a
\ncivilian, are facing death sentence for the premeditated murder
\nof noted Muslim leader Tengku Bantaqiah and no less than 57 of
\nhis followers in remote Beutong Ateuh village on July 23.<\/p>\n
The six legal representatives, who took turns reading parts of
\ntheir defense, said the responsibility for the killings should be
\non the shoulders of their commanders who ordered the operation.<\/p>\n
According to the prosecutors' indictment, the order for the
\nantirebel raid came from Lilawangsa Military Commander Col.
\nSyafnil Armen following an intelligence report that Bantaqiah and
\nhis students possessed arms.<\/p>\n
Syafnil, however, was not listed as a suspect in the murder,
\nleaving the now missing Lt. Col. Sudjono, the highest ranked
\nofficer, to face charges. Sudjono disappeared November of last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
"The soldiers had no other choice but to obey their superiors,
\notherwise their careers would have been jeopardized," the defense
\nstatement said.<\/p>\n
The team insisted that the dossiers were incomplete.<\/p>\n
The defense team also noted an obvious violation of Criminal
\nCode Article 84 and 137, due to the fact that the trial is not
\nbeing held at a courthouse in accordance with the principle of
\nlocus de licti (site of the incident) in West Aceh, but in Banda
\nAceh instead.<\/p>\n
They also said that the prosecutors in the case have breached
\ntheir authority by pronouncing two crime scenes.<\/p>\n
"We are on trial for Bantaqiah case which took place only in
\nBeutong Ateuh village, but the prosecutors have expanded it by
\nalso investigating the murders along the roads outside Beutong
\narea to Takengon. This is legally objectionable.<\/p>\n
"Therefore, the charges were legally unacceptable and the
\ndefense team demanded that the trial be canceled," Tatang said.<\/p>\n
The trial was adjourned until Monday.<\/p>\n
Security was tight during the hearing, with minor incidents of
\nstudent protests outside the courthouse. Some 50 students
\nsupported the defense lawyers' claims that only soldiers of low
\nrank would be punished instead of their superiors.<\/p>\n
Violence<\/p>\n
Explosions targeting government buildings again rocked the
\nstrife-torn province over the past few days.<\/p>\n
Overnight grenade explosions hit the grounds of three
\ngovernment buildings and the office of the organizing committee
\nof the Aceh People's Congress (KRA) in the city of Banda Aceh on
\nFriday evening, but no casualties or damages were reported.<\/p>\n
Banda Aceh was tense as security forces intensified patrols in
\nthe city after the attacks.<\/p>\n
In South Aceh, an alleged armed gang member identified as M.
\nDin, 27, was found dead in the bushes in Terbangan subdistrict
\nnear Tapak Tuan, late on Saturday after a gunfight between police
\nand gunmen in the area.<\/p>\n
Local police chief Lt. Col. Teuku Kemala said on Sunday Second
\nSgt. Adi Prasetyo was injured in the fray.<\/p>\n
Also on Saturday night, an armed group threw grenades at
\nLhoksukon police post, 32 kilometers east of the North Aceh
\nregency capital of Lhokseumawe.<\/p>\n
On the same day, a civilian female worker of Samudra police
\npost in North Aceh, Idayana, 32, also suffered from severe head
\nwounds when she was shot by gunmen while riding an ojek
\nmotorcycle taxi. (50\/51\/edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/defense-team-asks-tni-be-absolved-in-aceh-killing-1447893297",
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