Former soldier gets 15 years

Former soldier gets 15 years

BOGOR: The Bogor District Court sentenced on Thursday a former
Army soldier to 15 years in prison for the illegal possession of
explosives and torture.

Joko Supriyatno, alias Heru Prasetyo, 34, a former private in
the Army, was found guilty of illegally keeping two live grenades
in his house in Bogor, and of torturing his wife, Suwaryanti, 33.

Suwaryanti testified that Joko tortured her last February,
after she refused to engage in sexual activities with him that
she regarded as abnormal. She also said her husband kept live
grenades in the house.

In its decision the panel of judges, presided over by Humala
Simatupang, said the defendant planned to explode the grenades
among Americans somewhere in Greater Jakarta. The panel also said
the defendant received the grenades from members of the
separatist Free Aceh Movement.

His sentence was lighter than the 20 years sought by
prosecutor Nurhasan Ridwan, who charged the defendant with
violating Article 1, Paragraph 1 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951,
and articles 44, 48 and 49 of the Criminal Code.--JP