Soldiers may get up to 2.5 years for killing farmers

SURABAYA, East Java (JP): Military prosecutors yesterday demanded that the soldiers who shot dead four peasants on Madura Island in 1993 be jailed for between two and two and a half years.

Led by Col. F.X. Sukiman, the prosecutors at the military tribunal in Surabaya maintained the defendants had been proven guilty of deviating from standard military procedure, which resulted in the death of the civilians.

They demanded that Second Lt. Sudjak who led the military post in the area be sentenced to 2.5 years in jail while his three subordinates -- Chief Sgt. M. Said Riyadi, Second Sgt. Bambang Edy Cahyono and Pvt. Siswanto -- should be given two years each.

They also demanded that the members of the Armed Forces be discharged from military service.

The four men are being tried for their involvement in a shooting incident in which four civilians were killed in Nipah on Sep. 25 1993.

At the time the four men were accompanying a team of government engineers assigned to take measurements for a controversial dam to be built at Nipah.

Plans to build the dam had caused much unrest among the local residents who gathered and proceeded to protest the measuring of the land. The villagers demanded higher compensation for losing their property.

It was while encountering this protest that Sudjak and his men opened fire on the crowd of civilians.

Sukiman argued that Sudjak and his men had violated the soldiers' oath and caused great embarrassment to the image of the armed forces both at home and abroad.

The prosecutor also regretted the fact that Sudjak ran away from the site after the incident without attempting to help the victims. Sudjak also postponed reporting the incident to his superiors until the next day.

Furthermore Sudjak was guilty of not giving clear orders to his men which could have possibly avoided the tragic incident.

According to Sudjak's commanding officer, Lt. Col. Sugeng Wiyono, there were direct orders to avoid any incidents and only in dire circumstances could warning shots be fired.

"Sugeng had told them to avoid the use of weapons. If there was a mob approaching they should be warned by shots into the air. And if the mob continued to come forward and threaten the safety of the soldiers then shots could be fired into the ground," Sukiman said.

Due to the ambiguity of his commands, Sudjak's men took it upon themselves to shoot at the approaching crowd.

A total of 14 witnesses were called during the trials along with an FN46 hand gun and three magazines. Based on testimony it was established that 26 shots were fired.

During the trial Sudjak has admitted his errors in handling the situation and expressed regret over the incident.

The judge is scheduled to give the verdict next week.(15/mds)