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)