Nine soldiers sent to prison over deadly Binjai clash
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
A military tribunal here sentenced on Wednesday nine soldiers to between five months and two and a half years in prison for their roles in a deadly attack against two police offices in Binjai, North Sumatra, on Sept. 29 and 30 which killed 12 people, three of whom were civilians.
Panel judges said the defendants were proven guilty of violating Article 351 of the Criminal Code and Article 1 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951.
The judges also ruled that each convict must pay legal proceedings costs of Rp 3,000.
Upon hearing the verdict, all nine convicts -- after consulting their lawyers -- said that they would file an appeal.
Pvt. Edi Satriawan, Pvt. Hermansyah and Pvt. Darwin received the heaviest sentence of two and a half years imprisonment.
Pvt. Aswinuddin Tanjung, Pvt. M. Aswin and Pvt. Amri were sentenced to two years in jail, while Sgt. Hermansyah Pohan got one year, and Pvt. Hilman and Pvt. Heri Handoko both received five months in prison.
The rulings were lighter than those demanded by military prosecutors, who wanted the nine soldiers convicted with 18 years behind bars.
In their verdict, the panel judges said that an additional punishment of dismissal was not required because their replacements had been announced by Army chief of staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu on Oct. 2 at a ceremony at Bukit Barisan Military Command headquarters in Medan shortly after the clash.
Presiding judge Lt. Col. T.R. Samosir said the judges handed down lighter sentences because all defendants admitted to their wrongdoings and had served assignments previously in Aceh and East Timor.
In his explanation, Samosir added Pvt. Hilman and Pvt. Heri Handoko received the lightest sentences because they were only involved in a minor clash with police officials on Sept. 28, one day before the massive armed attack took place.
The panel judges noted that the attack by members of the Army's airborne unit on Langkat police headquarters in Binjai and the Binjai Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters was prompted by solidarity among corp members independent of any military command.
Binjai is the capital of Langkat regency.
The incidents on Sept. 29 and Sept. 30 were sparked by the police's refusal to comply with the soldiers' demands to release a suspected drug dealer on Sept. 28. In retaliation, three truckloads of soldiers from the Army's 100 Prajurit Setia Airborne unit launched an attack on the Langkat police station and occupied it shortly afterwards.
The soldiers, who met little resistance from the police, burned the station along with eight police cars and 25 motorbikes, which had been confiscated for traffic violations.
Hours later, the same troops attacked the headquarters of the police's Brimob elite force on Jl. Soekarno Hatta, around one kilometer away from the Langkat police station.
The soldiers fired rockets at the Brimob headquarters, which was guarded by only 10 police personnel, as most Brimob members were on duty in neighboring Aceh province.
The battle forced Binjai's 216,000 residents to stay indoors out of fear, with the town being almost completely deserted and the majority of shops closed.
The convicts said they were disappointed with the resolution to the dispute, and said it was unfair because Langkat Intelligence police chief Adj. Comr. Togu Simanjuntak, who shot Pvt. Abdur Rahman, was not punished.
They added that Bukit Barisan military chief Maj. Gen. Idris Gassing had promised at that time to punish those involved in the clash.