Soldiers get jail terms for Aceh killings

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): A joint military-civilian court sentenced on Wednesday 24 Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers and one civilian to prison terms ranging from 8.5 to 10 years for last year's mass killings at a West Aceh boarding school.

Critics, however, were quick to criticize the verdict, saying it excluded the real culprits and that the trial itself was chiefly a public relations exercise.

Presiding judge Ruslan Dahlan said in the verdict the defendants were guilty of the collective murder of Islamic teacher Tengku Bantaqiah and at least 57 of his students in an antirebel operation in the remote village of Beutong Ateuh on July 23 last year.

State prosecutors had earlier demanded between six and 10-year jail terms.

Ruslan concluded that "the soldiers had used weaponry which was incomparable to the weapons carried by the victims". He said some of Bantaqiah's students, who were armed with traditional rencong daggers, knives and machetes, died from gunshots to the head and chest and that there had apparently been no attempt to disarm and arrest them.

Ten members of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), including the highest ranked officer Capt. Anton Yuliantoro, got eight-and-a-half year jail terms, as did the only civilian defendant, Thaleb Amman Suar, 47.

It was Thaleb who passed on the information that Tengku Bantaqiah had some 300 students and possessed 100 firearms.

Thirteen soldiers from Bukit Barisan Military Command were jailed for nine years while Pvt. Indra Suryatma Wijaya, 25, received a 10-year term.

Head of the team of lawyers defending the Kostrad soldiers, Col. Burhan Dahlan, immediately lodged an appeal.

"It is not fair as the judges have completely ignored the arguments put forward by the defense team," Burhan said.

The defense team argued that its clients were carrying out orders from their superiors, the now-missing Lt. Col. Sudjono and Lilawangsa Military Commander Col. Syafnil Armen. In his testimony, the latter admitted to giving the order to raid the school.

The lawyers also said the troops were carrying weapons commonly used in an antirebel operation.

The verdict read that Tengku Bantaqiah and 31 of his followers were killed at Babul Mukaromah Islamic boarding school. Another 23 students, who were wounded were ostensibly taken to hospital and executed on the way. Three other people are missing and presumed dead.

The guilty men booed and sang patriotic songs as they were taken from the courthouse after the session. They were taken by armored vehicles to a detention house.

Armored cars were also used to take the judges to the airport, where a flight for Medan, North Sumatra, was awaiting.

Throughout the trial, demonstrators outside the courtroom demanded punishment for the men's superiors.

Aceh branch chief of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Iqbal Faraby agreed with the protesters, saying the trial had missed the real culprits.

"Officers in command were not charged and key witnesses failed to appear. We really hope for fair trials of other human rights cases here," Iqbal said.

House of Representatives legislators also questioned the court's inability to try higher-ranking officers, including former TNI chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto and former Bukit Barisan Military commander Maj. Gen. Gaffar Rahman, whom they said were accountable for the murders.

"It's impossible that they were uninformed about the antirebel operation. We cannot say it was just a procedural flaw," Ghazali Abas from the United Development Party (PPP) representing Aceh said on Thursday.

"Since the beginning, I have believed the trial to have been a joke," he added.

Syaiful Ahmad from the National Mandate Party said the convicted men were scapegoats.

"I feel sorry for them, although they have been proved guilty. They were officers who were just following orders," Syaiful said.

London-based Amnesty International and New York-based Human Rights Watch joined the chorus of criticism, saying they had "serious misgivings" over the sentencing of the men.

"The trial shows the Indonesian government's resolve to put an end to military impunity in Aceh and that is an important step forward.

"But it is a seriously flawed beginning. Commanding officers were not charged and key witnesses failed to appear," the statement said.

The exclusive focus on junior ranks suggests that the government is still unwilling or unable to take decisive action against higher-level military leaders, it added.

The two rights bodies also regretted the fact that some witnesses had either not been called or had been too scared to appear.

"In Aceh, where the security forces have a powerful presence and a long record of literally getting away with murder, the potential for intimidation is particularly high," the statement said, adding that aid donors and other countries should provide funds and expertise for a witness protection program. (50/edt/jun/byg)