10 more soldiers sentenced up to 30 months for Binjai attack

10 more soldiers sentenced up to 30 months for Binjai attack

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Another group of 10 soldiers in North Sumatra have been jailed
for between 12 months and two-and-a-half years for their
involvement in a two-day attack on two police stations here last
September, in which 12 people were killed.

The verdict handed down on Tuesday by the Medan military
tribunal in North Sumatra was lighter than that demanded by
prosecutors who sought between two years and three years and five
months in prison for the defendants.

The convicts and the military prosecutors said they were both
considering filing appeals against the ruling.

The panel of judges said the soldiers, all members of the
Army's Airborne unit in the town of Binjai, were found guilty of
conspiring to attack the Langkat police station and the Binjai
Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters on Sept. 29 and Sept.
30.

Binjai, some 22 kilometers northwest of Medan, is the capital
city of Langkat regency.

The defendants were proven guilty of violating Article 351 of
the Criminal Code and Article 1 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951, the
judges added.

Only Amru Daulay and Djamaluddin, both second sergeants
charged with masterminding the violence that killed eight
policemen, one soldier and three civilians, received two-and-a-
half years imprisonment.

"Second Sgt. Amru Daulay and Second Sgt. Djamaluddin had
deployed other soldiers to seize arms from the warehouse, while
sounding an alarm to declare the start of the attack," presiding
judge T.R. Samosir said.

Three other troops -- First Pvt. Iskandar Gurusinga, First
Pvt. M. Badai Samudra Purba and Second Pvt. Fadli -- were all
sentenced to two years in jail, while First Sgt. Irwandy was
jailed for 18 months. The most lenient sentence of 12 months was
handed down for First Sgt. Juwahir, First Sgt. Suryadi, Pvt.
Mulyadi and Pvt. Heri Purnawan.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu gave 20 soldiers a
dishonorable discharge, including the 10 convicted defendants,
three days after the attack.

Samosir admitted that the court took into consideration the
Oct. 2 dismissal announced by the Army chief when issuing the
sentences.

"The panel of judges consider that the dismissals have a more
serious influence on the defendants because it relates to their
future and that of their families," he argued.

The judges handed down light sentences because the defendants
admitted their wrongdoings and had served in previous assignments
in Aceh and East Timor, he added.

Earlier on Dec. 18, the same court also sentenced nine
soldiers to between five months and 18 months in jail for their
role in the Sept. 29 and Sept. 30 assault.

Military prosecutors had demanded a 18-year sentence for the
nine soldiers -- Pvt. Edi Satriawan, Pvt. Hermansyah, Pvt.
Darwin, Pvt. Aswinuddin Tanjung, Pvt. M. Aswin, Pvt. Amri, Sgt.
Hermansyah Pohan, Pvt. Hilman and Pvt. Heri Handoko.

Military prosecutors said on Tuesday that trials for scores of
other suspects, including the chief of the Army's local battalion
Maj. Madsuni, would also start soon.

The judges noted that the attack was prompted by solidarity
among Army members independent of their military command.

The incident was triggered by the police's refusal to comply
with the soldiers' demand to release a suspected drug dealer on
Sept. 28. In retaliation, three truckloads of soldiers from the
Army's 100 Prajurit Setia Airborne unit launched an attack on the
Langkat police station and occupied it shortly afterwards.

The soldiers, who met little resistance from the police,
burned down the station along with eight police cars and 25
motorbikes, which had been confiscated for traffic violations.

Hours later, the same troops attacked the headquarters of the
police's Brimob elite force on Jl. Soekarno Hatta, around one
kilometer from Langkat police station.

The soldiers fired rockets at the Brimob headquarters, which
was guarded by only 10 police personnel, as most Brimob members
were on duty in the neighboring Aceh province. A number of
motorcycles and two cars were set ablaze and at least 61
detainees escaped from the police station.

Binjai's 216,000 residents stayed indoors following the
attack, leaving the streets almost deserted and the majority of
shops closed.