Three soldiers on trial admit assaulting villagers<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh<\/p>\n
Three soldiers who went on trial for allegedly beating civilians
\nin the village of Lawang in Bireun regency, confessed to their
\ncrimes on Wednesday, as the National Commission on Human Rights
\nsaid it would send a fact-finding team to look into reports of
\nhuman rights abuses in the war-torn province of Aceh.<\/p>\n
On the second day of their court-martial, the three defendants
\nconfirmed witness statements that they had beaten villagers
\nunconscious in a raid against members of the Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM) on May 27.<\/p>\n
Military prosecutors presented three victims who appeared
\nbefore the court with bruises on their faces and bodies.<\/p>\n
Hamdani Yahya, 47, said that soldiers beat him because they
\nthought he was not cooperative enough when they questioned him.
\nHe had bruises on his face.<\/p>\n
The second victim, forty-year-old Maimun Achmad suffered
\nbruising to his back after \"three men in army fatigues with red
\nand white bandannas\" hit him with a log.<\/p>\n
He was beaten after he denied knowing the whereabouts of a
\nsuspected rebel identified as Ismael.<\/p>\n
Razali Abdul Rachman was hit on the head for not being able to
\nsay where Ismael was.<\/p>\n
The three soldiers are First Pvt. Syaiful Bahri, 29, Second
\nPvt. Tony Narianto, 22, and Second Pvt. Agus Hidayat, 24.<\/p>\n
Military prosecutors charges them with violating articles 351
\nand 55 of the Criminal Code on assaulting civilians and article
\n103 of the military's criminal code on breaching military
\ndiscipline. The charges carry a maximum penalty of two years.<\/p>\n
In total, seven soldiers have been charged with assaulting
\ncivilians in the Lawang incident. Three others are waiting for
\ntheir turn to stand trial. They are being detained by the
\nLhoksuemawe Military Police pending their court appearances.<\/p>\n
The soldiers are from the 144th Battalion, which comes under
\nthe jurisdiction of the Sriwijaya Military command.<\/p>\n
Sriwijaya military chief Maj. Gen. Soenario, who visited the
\nAceh Military Operation Command, in Lhokseumawe promised to
\npunish his subordinates if they were proven guilty of the
\ncharges. \"Soldiers are not allowed to assault civilians. If they
\nare found guilty they deserved to be punished.\"<\/p>\n
The trial, which began on Tuesday, marked the first time that
\nthe Indonesian Military (TNI) has court-martialed its soldiers
\namid an ongoing military operation.<\/p>\n
The war in Aceh is entering its third week, and is Indonesia's
\nlargest military operation since the 1975 invasion of East Timor.
\nFears have since risen over unchecked human rights abuses, as
\nwere perpetrated during the 10 years Aceh was a military
\noperations zone. The war between 1989 and 1999 killed more than
\n10,000 people, mostly civilians. No soldier has ever stood trial
\nfor unlawful killing in Aceh.<\/p>\n
The Lawang incident also claimed the life of a villager,
\nAbubakar. His wife Aisyah had earlier told reporters that
\nsoldiers dragged him out of their house, beat him and then shot
\nhim.<\/p>\n
One of the seven soldiers who appeared before the court
\nadmitted shooting Abubakar. However, another soldier, First Pvt.
\nAlfian, denied Aisyah's statement that her husband had been
\nexecuted. According to him, Abubakar was a rebel who tried to
\nescape when the soldiers rounded up the village residents.<\/p>\n
The trial was adjourned until Thursday to hear the
\nprosecutors' charges.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/three-soldiers-on-trial-admit-assaulting-villagers-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}