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