32 soldiers prosecuted in North Aceh

32 soldiers prosecuted in North Aceh

Teuku Agam Muzakir, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh

A total of 32 soldiers have committed crimes during military
operations in the troubled province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam
since May last year.

All the soldiers were under the command of the Aceh Military
Operations Command (Koops TNI) based in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh.

Brig. Gen. George Toisutta, the chief of Koops TNI, said that
of the 32 soldiers, 13 had been punished by the Banda Aceh
military court, which oversees Aceh province.

"Of the 13, five are subject to military discipline, while
eight others received jail sentences," said Toisutta.

He added that the remaining 19 were being prosecuted at the
court martial in Lhokseumawe.

The judges are under the command of the Banda Aceh military
court, but due to the distance involved, they have been deployed
to Lhokseumawe to hold military trials in the city.

Military operations began in May last year, only a day after
martial law was imposed by the government in Aceh province. It is
unclear when the operations will come to an end.

Meanwhile, Toisutta said that the 32 soldiers were brought
before a court martial because they had committed various crimes,
including assault on local residents, rape, theft, traffic
accident, insubordination, defying orders, losing firearms and
extortion.

The highest ranks to appear were First. Lt. Erwin Kasirun, who
was proven to have extorted passersby on an Aceh street and Maj.
Edi Martadinata, who was sentenced for smuggling.

Toisutta asserted that the stiff sentences on the soldiers
were aimed to be deterrent on other soldiers.

Toisutta leads tens of thousands of soldiers who have been
deployed in Aceh during military operations in the area.