Military officer impersonators tried

JAKARTA (JP): Two jobless men are on trial for impersonating army officers and trying to blackmail motorcyclists.

The West Jakarta District Court indicted the men, aged 28 and 31, Wednesday.

During the trial, presided over by judge Soeratno, the prosecution supplied two witnesses, Rosikun and Abdul Muhdi, who had made the suspects' arrest possible.

The witnesses said the suspects, dressed in army fatigues, stopped them on the night of Dec. 14 near the Palmerah market, West Jakarta.

The suspects reportedly seized the witnesses' motorcycle after they failed to produce the vehicle's documents and ordered Rosikun to follow them without Abdul Mahdi.

After a few minutes ride, they were stopped by security officers checking drivers' documents.

The police arrested the bogus army officers after they failed to produce identity documents, Antara reported.

Prosecutors said the suspects had admitted to having robbed a man of his motorcycle by the same trick.