Kopassus soldiers sentenced for assault

YOGYAKARTA: A panel of judges at the Yogyakarta Military Court sentenced on Friday two soldiers from the Army's elite Kopassus unit to 18 months in jail each for a brutal assault that claimed the life of civilian Widyo Prabowo, 29, and left another civilian, Subekti Eko Nugroho, 34, injured.

Two other defendants, First Pvt. Andi Topan and First Pvt. Bambang Siswanto, were dishonorably discharged from the Army.

The 18-month jail terms were harsher than the one-year and 14- month terms prosecutors had been seeking for Andi and Bambang, respectively. -- JP