Soldiers sentenced for aiding rebels

Soldiers sentenced for aiding rebels

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua

A court-martial here sentenced two soldiers on Thursday to up to
14 months in jail for their roles in events connected with a
weapons raid last April on a military armory in Wamena regency,
Papua province.

First Lt. Pilius Wenda was jailed for one year and two months
and First Sgt. Sergius Jikwa for 10 months by the Jayapura
military tribunal.

Military prosecutors had sought one year and six months in the
stockade for Pilius, and one year and two months for Sergius.

The convicted soldiers told Thursday's hearing in the Trikora
Military Command's auditorium that they would not appeal the
verdict.

The panel of military judges, presided over by Lt. Col. A.R.
Tambulon, said Pilius had been found guilty beyond all reasonable
doubt of supplying ammunition to Papuan rebels.

The crime violated Article 1 (1) of Emergency Law No. 12/1951
as Pilius had supplied the ammunition to others, the court said.

The ammunition was apparently used in the April 4 raid on the
Wamena armory, which left three people dead, including two
soldiers. The theft was blamed on members of the Free Papua
Organization (OPM).

The judges said Pilius gave eight rounds of SP2 ammunition,
including five dud rounds, to OPM rebels led by Joni Murib at
Melendik village, Tiom subdistrict, Jayawijaya regency, in 2001.

The rebels threatened to seize the M-16 AI and FN-46 rifles
Pilius was in charge of if he refused to hand over his eight SP2
bullets, they said.

The defendant failed to report the incident to his superiors,
although what he had done threatened the lives of his comrades,
the judges added.

They said Pilius, who served as the Kurima subdistrict
military chief, was guilty of dereliction of duty as he handed
over the ammunition to an enemy of the state due to intimidation.

"He did this only to save his own skin," Tambulon said.

Eight civilians arrested on charges of involvement in the
armory raid reportedly claimed they had obtained eight bullets
from Pilius. The eight civilians are currently on trial in the
Wamena District Court.

Tambulon further said the defendant Sergius was guilty of
dereliction of duty for failing to report the arms theft to his
superiors. He was therefore guilty of violating Article 121 (1)
of the Criminal Code, the presiding judge added.

Sergius showed the raiders the way to the armory, where they
stole at least 13 M-16 rifles, 13 SP-1 rifles and three PM
rifles, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition, Tambulon
said.

Sergius had failed to immediately report the raid to the
Jayawijaya military chief.

Most of the stolen arms were recovered several days after the
incident.

"The maximum penalty for these crimes is death. But based on
the investigation and what has been said during the trial, it is
clear that they only helped the OPM as they were under pressure,"
Tambulon said.

Army Chief-of-Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, speaking during a
recent visit to Wamena, said that soldiers who were found guilty
of betraying the state by giving weapons to the enemy should be
sentenced to death.

Seven other soldiers were sentenced to up to seven months and
20 days for dereliction of duty in connection with the arms raid.