Tanjung Priok's last defendants get up to three years<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The last 11 defendants in the bloody 1984 Tanjung Priok incident
\nwere sentenced to two and three years in prison on Friday, just
\nweeks after their superiors were acquitted of all charges.<\/p>\n
Capt. Sutrisno Mascung and 10 soldiers were declared guilty of
\ncommitting crimes against humanity for opening fire on a group of
\nprotesters, killing at least 24 people.<\/p>\n
\"The first defendant is sentenced to three years in prison and
\nthe second to 11th defendants are sentenced to two years in
\nprison respectively,\" said Judge Andi Samsar Nganro at the
\nCentral Jakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
The first defendant was Sutrisno, who was the commander of the
\nAir Defense Artillery Battalion from the North Jakarta District
\nMilitary Command, while the others were his subordinates when the
\nincident took place in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Sept. 12,
\n1984.<\/p>\n
\"The firing by the troops was not an act of self-defense, but
\nintentional murder,\" said Andi. He said the masses lost control
\nafter facing armed troops.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo and Maj. Gen. Sriyanto -- currently
\nchief of the country's Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) -- were
\nacquitted by the same court two weeks ago as they were not proven
\nguilty of committing gross human rights violations.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. (ret) Rudolph Adolph Butar-butar, then a lieutenant
\ncolonel and head of the North Jakarta District Military Command,
\nwas sentenced to 10-year prison term. He remains free pending
\nappeal.<\/p>\n
Both Pranowo and Sriyanto were Sutrisno's superiors, being the
\npolice commander of the Jakarta Military Command and the head of
\nNorth Jakarta Military district operational unit respectively.<\/p>\n
In Sriyanto's trial, the shooting was said to be \"unplanned
\nand unavoidable\" and \"was not an attack as it was to protect
\nseveral vital facilities\".<\/p>\n
The sentences handed down to Sutrisno and his soldiers were
\nmuch lower than the minimum 10 years stipulated in Law No.
\n26\/2000 on the human rights court. Earlier, prosecutor Widodo
\nSupriyadi demanded 10 years in prison for the soldiers
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
Judge Binsar Gultom said considerations in giving lower
\nsentences were the ishlah and differing opinions among judges.<\/p>\n
Ishlah was a peace agreement between the military and
\nrelatives of the Tanjung Priok victims in March 2001.<\/p>\n
However, legal expert Luhut Pangaribuan told The Jakarta Post
\nthat a consideration such as ishlah could not be used to reduce
\nthe minimum sentence.<\/p>\n
\"Ishlah itself is still a controversy. Only a few agreed with
\nthe ishlah so it could not be said to represent all the victims
\nof the Tanjung Priok incident,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Luhut said the sentence only showed that courts still believed
\nin the old theory of making subordinates scapegoats.<\/p>\n
\"The sentence is disappointing. It might only be an effort to
\nstill people's disappointment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Last defendants of Tanjung Priok case<\/p>\n
1. Capt. Sutrisno Mascung former commander of air defense<\/p>\n
artillery battalion<\/p>\n
Sentence: 3 years in prison<\/p>\n
2. Chief Corp. Asrori former member of the Jakarta Military<\/p>\n
Command<\/p>\n
Sentence: 2 years in prison<\/p>\n
3. Chief Corp. Siswoyo idem<\/p>\n
4. Sgt. Maj. Abdul Halim idem<\/p>\n
5. Second Lt. Zulfata idem<\/p>\n
6. Chief Sgt. Sumitro idem<\/p>\n
7. Chief Sgt. Sofyan Hadi idem<\/p>\n
8. Chief Corp. Prayogi idem<\/p>\n
9. Chief Corp. Winarko idem<\/p>\n
10. Chief Corp. Idrus idem<\/p>\n
11. Second Sgt. Muhson idem<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tanjung-prioks-last-defendants-get-up-to-three-years-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }