Defense lawyers seek release of defendants in Binjai incident

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Defense lawyers of 19 former Army personnel, on trial for their role in a bloody clash with police in Binjai, North Sumatra, in late September, urged military judges to acquit the defendants on the grounds that the charges against them were inconsistent.

In a court hearing called for the lawyers to make a final defense, Maj. Mujianto stated that military prosecutors had charged the defendants with general crimes as stipulated in the Criminal Code.

"But in their sentence demand, the prosecutors have used the Military Criminal Code as they have demanded that the defendants be discharged from military service," said Mujianto, one of the defense lawyers.

A total of 19 former members of the now-defunct 100th Airborne unit in Binjai, some 25 kilometers west of Medan, North Sumatra, are currently on trial at the Bukit Barisan Military Command Headquarters in Medan for attacking a police station in Langkat and the Mobile Brigade headquarters in Binjai on Sept. 29 and 30, in which 12 people were killed, including three civilians.

Almost immediately after the attacks, Army chief Ryamizard Ryacudu froze the Airborne unit.

Last Thursday, military prosecutors reiterated their demand for a total of 47 years, 10 months in jail for the 19 defendants.

Military prosecutors Maj. Heru, Maj. Hendy and Captain Bahabuddin Siregar said last week that the trial had proven beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants had either collectively or individually used firearms that claimed a number of innocent lives.

The prosecutors have sought jail terms of 10 months to three- and-a-half years and discharge from military service for the 19 defendants.

But according to Mujianto, the defendants could not be discharged from military service as they had been charged under the country's Criminal Code rather than the Military Criminal Code.

"The Criminal Code does not sanction discharge from military service, whereas the Military Criminal Code does," Mujianto said.

He also stressed that military prosecutors had no authority to demand additional punishment for the defendants as that right lay in the hands of the judges.

Another defense lawyer, Maj. B. Zebua, said that the military prosecutors should have charged the defendants with military crimes, not general crimes.

The court was adjourned until Dec. 19, at which time the judges are scheduled to issue their verdict.