Indonesian court jails 4 soldiers over brutal Papua killings
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The victims had been trying to buy weapons from the soldiers last August.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: ST FILE
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JAKARTA - An Indonesian military court in the restive Papua region handed down this week jail sentences to four soldiers over their roles in the brutal murder of four civilians, a court document showed.
The victims had been trying to buy weapons from the soldiers last August.
But when the deal went awry, they were killed, with their mutilated bodies put into sacks and thrown into a river near the city of Timika, the authorities said.
Six soldiers had gone on trial, but one died before a verdict was reached.
The court in Papua on Wednesday found four guilty of premeditated murder. Two received life terms and the other two, a 15-year and a 20-year prison sentence, the court document showed.
Human rights non-governmental organisation KontraS said the ruling set “a good precedent, given the spiral of violence that keeps on happening, especially against Papuan civilians involving military (and) police apparatus”.
In January, another soldier received a life sentence over his role in the killings.
The men were fired from the military.
Reuters could not immediately determine how they had pleaded or contacted their legal representatives.
Indonesia maintains a military presence in Papua,
The military has faced accusations of human rights abuses in Papua, which it has denied, but investigations into such allegations are rare.
Papua police said one of the victims was linked to the West Papua National Liberation Army, a separatist group in the region.
A spokesman for the group last year called on the government to hold the perpetrators accountable for the killings or risk further violence. REUTERS
