Trial in Aceh to start in late January: Hasballah<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Eighteen military personnel and two civilians
\nwill be tried before a joint military-civilian panel of six
\njudges later this month for the alleged murders of 65 people in
\nWest Aceh in July.<\/p>\n
State Minister of Human Rights Affairs Hasballah M. Saad did
\nnot give an exact date for the trial, but confirmed that it would
\nbe held in Sabang at the end of the month.<\/p>\n
The ranks and names of suspects were not revealed but Military
\nPolice chief Maj. Gen. Djasri Marin said last month the most
\nsenior among them was a lieutenant colonel.<\/p>\n
Troops allegedly shot dead Islamic boarding school teacher
\nTengku Bantaqiah, his wife, his students and dozens of farmers in
\nan antirebel raid in the remote Beutong area, some 100 kilometers
\nsouth of Lhokseumawe on July 23.<\/p>\n
Local military officers maintain Bantaqiah and his students,
\nbelieved to be allies of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), were
\nkilled in an exchange of fire.<\/p>\n
Witnesses and a government-sanctioned inquiry said, however,
\nthat they were executed by troops.<\/p>\n
The Beutong shooting is among five human rights cases in Aceh
\nwhich the inquiry is focusing on in its investigations of alleged
\nabuses in the restive province.<\/p>\n
The trial will be a test case as it will be the first to be
\nheld under a joint interconnected military-civilian tribunal.<\/p>\n
The resource-rich province has been wracked by clashes between
\ntroops and rebels, which has heightened in the past few months.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Aceh, a group of armed men opened fire on the
\nBanda Aceh Police station in the provincial capital early on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
No fatalities or injuries were reported.<\/p>\n
Aceh Police spokesman Lt. Col. Sayed Husaini described the
\nincident as a drive-by-shooting as the men were driving a Kijang
\nvan and a motorbike as they fired AK-47 semi-automatic rifles.<\/p>\n
\"The group opened fire at about 4:50 a.m., but they only hit
\nthe wall ... The guards were probably asleep when the incident
\noccurred,\" Sayed said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Lt. Heri Sudrajat, a company commander of the
\nPolice Mobile Bridgade unit was killed during a rebel attack on
\nThursday in Cot Ijue of Peusangan district in Bireun.<\/p>\n
North Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. Syafei Aksal added that
\nseveral officers were injured in the 15-minute gunfight.
\n(50\/edt\/byg\/rms)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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