Five soldiers on trial over Aceh killings
Five soldiers on trial over Aceh killings
JAKARTA (JP): Five soldiers, including an Army major, appeared
in a military court in Banda Aceh on Saturday, charged with
assault and battery in the deaths of four Acehnese and the injury
of dozens of others in police detention last week.
Maj. Bayu Najib, commander of Battalion 113 Jaya Sakti until
last week, was tried in a separate tribunal from privates Amsir,
Ukim Harahap, Efendi and Marolaum Situmorang. Both sessions were
held simultaneously at Aceh Military Police headquarters.
The savagery of the attack has caused an uproar, especially
among Acehnese slowly emerging from a nine-year repressive
military operation which ended in August.
The defendants are among 27 the military plans to court-
martial for the detainees' deaths in the industrial town of
Lhokseumawe.
According to reports, off-duty soldiers attacked and beat 40
unarmed people with their bare hands and blunt objects on Jan. 9.
The detainees had been rounded up in a military operation to
track down Ahmad Kandang, accused of inciting Acehnese to rebel.
Trials of the 22 others are scheduled to start after the Idul
Fitri holiday.
Col. Sri Umi Sularsih, presiding judge in Bayu's trial, said
the defendant was charged with battery under Article 170 and
assault under Article 351 of the Criminal Code.
The first offense carries a maximum penalty of 12 years
imprisonment if it is proven the battery caused the deaths. The
second offense has a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment.
The military identified the accused soldiers as belonging to
Battalion 113, Battalion 111 and the Guided Missile Detachment,
all stationed in Lhokseumawe.
Embarrassed by the incident, the military has promised swift
court-martials and punishment for the perpetrators.
On Saturday, the hearings quickly moved to hear testimony of
witnesses.
Azwar Nurdin of the Aceh NGO Forum, who attended Bayu's trial,
said the military prosecutors presented three witnesses -- First
Pvt. Bejo, a police officer and an army officer from the local
police and military posts.
Bejo, who was on guard duty at the two-story building where
the detainees were held, testified 100 soldiers were stationed on
the upper floor the night before the detainees were attacked.
Bayu's trial was adjourned to Sunday, with that of the other
four to resume on Monday.
Human rights groups claim at least 21 people have been killed
in the Wibawa Operation, launched to hunt down Ahmad, since Jan.
3.
The military says Ahmad was behind the killing of seven off-
duty soldiers in Lhok Nibung and the kidnapping of two marines in
the North Aceh district of Muara Dua last month.
Despite a military barricade around Lhok Nibung, Ahmad
reportedly fled the village on Jan. 9.
Rights activists attribute the latest outbreak of violence in
the province to unresolved human rights violations from the past.
They demand that the alleged perpetrators should be tried.
ABRI chief Gen. Wiranto has so far only expressed apologies
for military atrocities in the province, describing them as
"exceeding acceptable norms".
The National Commission on Human Rights, which sent a team to
the province last week, announced that at least 781 people were
killed and thousands more suffered during the military operation
to quash the separatist movement. (byg)