Thu, 20 Apr 2000

Aceh trial opens under tight security

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Defendants in the joint civilian- military trial which opened here on Wednesday are facing the death penalty for alleged mass killings in West Aceh last year.

The 90-minute hearing heard a team of prosecutors led by Nuraini AS charge the 25 defendants, 24 military personnel and a civilian with the premeditated murder of noted Muslim leader Tengku Bantaqiah and no less than 57 of his followers in remote Beutong Ateuh village on July 23.

Earlier report from the government-sanctioned independent inquiry team said Bantaqiah and 56 of his students were killed.

The capital offense carries the maximum penalty of death, according to the Criminal Code.

"A military operation in Beutong Ateuh village was conducted following a tip from civilian defendant Thaleb Amman Suar that Tengku Bantaqiah and his followers possessed 100 guns and 300 armed men," Nuraini said while reading the 38-page indictment.

Based on the report, Nuraini said, Lilawangsa Military Commander Col. Syafnil Armen sent a telegram dated July 15, 1999 to West Aceh's infantry commander and intelligence chief of Lilawangsa Military Command Lt. Col. Sudjono which read: "locate and arrest GPK (armed rioters) and their followers, dead or alive."

Sudjono, the key suspect, has been declared missing since November last year.

A team consisting of 215 personnel was forged following Syafnil's order, jointly led by Lt. Col. Heronimus Guru, the commander of Kostrad's 328 battalion and operations supervisor Sudjono, the prosecutor remarked.

On July 23, 1999, the troops arrived at the Babul Mukaromah Islamic boarding school in Beutong Ateuh, a remote village under the Singgah Mata mountain, 80 kilometers from Meulaboh, the capital of West Aceh regency.

"The troops painted their faces green. Lt. Col. Sudjono said 'So this is Bantaqiah' and then he spoke over the radio to Heronimus, saying 'How about it, brother? Let's kill them all'. But Heronimus did not reply to the message," Nuraini said.

The indictment said that Capt. Anton Yuliantoro, the highest ranked to stand trial, ordered a search on Bantaqiah and his followers' identity cards, stripped and left them wearing only underwear.

"One of the Bantaqiah pupils tried to grab a walkie talkie and a soldier hit him. That was when Bantaqiah screamed 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Great) and a troop member replied 'Go' and the soldiers started to spray bullets at the people," the prosecutor said.

She said Bantaqiah and 33 of his students died instantly, while 23 others were wounded and eventually shot to death upon Sudjono's order after being taken to a truck.

A number of bodies were buried near the site of the incident while many others were thrown into a ravine, Nuraini said.

Among the court attendants were State Minister of Human Rights Affairs Hasballah M. Saad, chief of the independent commission of inquiry into human rights abuses (KPP HAM) in Aceh Amran Zamzami and local military commander Col. Syarifuddin Tippe.

Security was tight during the opening hearing, with all the defendants transported at 8:30 a.m. to the court in a convoy of armored cars from a military police detention building situated about one kilometer from the courthouse.

Half of the military suspects are ranked private.

The trial was adjourned until Saturday.

Outside the courtroom, a student protester was reportedly injured during a clash with security personnel who prevented protesters from entering the court compound.

About 50 students rallied outside the courthouse to reject the trial, saying it only prosecuted low-ranking soldiers and not the masterminds.

Some 1,000 locals gathered outside the courtroom, listening to the session through loudspeakers.

Banda Aceh was calm on Wednesday after an overnight grenade blast at the Aceh Besar Police station, some three kilometers northeast of the courthouse. Police said two men speeding on a motorbike tossed the hand grenade.

Two grenade explosions also hit the Exxon-Oil gas field late on Tuesday but no fatalities were reported, North Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. Syafei Aksal said. (50/51/edt)