Three sentenced for aiding GAM

BENGKULU: A panel of judges at the Bengkulu district court here sentenced on Wednesday three people who sent aid to the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for state treason.

M.T. Jamil, a GAM leader overseeing the Bengkulu area, got seven years in jail, while his accomplices Said Umar and Tengku Muchtar also got seven years.

The three were found guilty of aid and abetting GAM in its decades long struggle for independence from Indonesia.

The jail sentences were far lower than the demand by the prosecution, who sought 10 years for each of them.

Jamil and Said were arrested in Bengkulu on May 8, 2003, while Muchtar was nabbed on June 20 in the neighboring province of Jambi. -- Antara