Dari http://www.nando.net kito baco: Prosecutor seeks lighter sentences in Aceh human rights trial By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (May 13, 2000 6:43 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - In a surprise move in Aceh's landmark human rights trial, a prosecutor told the court Saturday that two dozen soldiers who have admitted killing 57 college students should get only six to 10 years in jail if found guilty of murder. State attorney Nuraini Asyek said at the start of trial that the crime of murder should carry the death penalty. But he said Saturday that the case was unique because the defendants had only been following orders from their military commanders. The trial development came a day after the Indonesian government and separatist rebels, meeting in Switzerland, signed the first formal cease-fire agreement in 25 years of their fighting in Aceh. Thousands of people flocked to mosques across the region on the northern tip of Sumatra island on Friday to pray that the three-month cease-fire, which is scheduled to begin on June 2, will last. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the fighting in Aceh in the last decade, including 345 this year. Many of Aceh's 4.3 million people know someone who has died or disappeared during the insurgency. On Saturday, officials said the province remained peaceful. But the question is whether the guerrillas will be angered if the unprecedented human rights tribunal convicts the soldiers and one civilian defendant of murder and only gives them light jail sentences. Asyek told the tribunal of judges that the defendants should still be punished. "Soldiers must not follow their commanders' orders if those orders are morally wrong or against the law," he said. On Tuesday, 13 of the defendants testified they had executed 26 injured student activists on orders of their commander. The killings came only hours after the other 11 defendants had attacked the students' Islamic boarding school and shot dead another 30 students and a teacher in what they testified was self-defense. The trial was to continue Monday. President Abdurrahman Wahid, a Muslim cleric and reformist who took office in October, set up the Aceh tribunal in April. He also has promised Aceh partial autonomy and a greater share of oil profits and has reduced the number of soldiers fighting the rebels. Finding a lasting peace in Aceh is a major test for Indonesia, a country made up of hundreds of different ethnic groups, languages and several religions, as it continues its painful transition toward democracy after three decades of authoritarian rule. LAPAU RantauNet di http://lapau.rantaunet.web.id Isi Database ke anggotaan RantauNet: http://www.egroups.com/database/rantaunet?method=addRecord&tbl=1 ================================================= WEB-EMAIL GRATIS ... @rantaunet.web.id ---> http://mail.rantaunet.web.id ================================================= Subscribe - Mendaftar RantauNet Mailing List, kirimkan email Ke / To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Isi email / Messages: subscribe rantau-net email_anda Unsubscribe - Berhenti menerima RantauNet Mailing List, kirimkan email Ke / To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Isi emai / Messages: unsubscribe rantau-net email_anda ================================================= WebPage RantauNet http://www.rantaunet.web.id dan Mailing List RantauNet adalah servis dari EEBNET http://eebnet.com, Airland Groups, USA =================================================
