Marines stand trial for brutal shooting incident in Pasuruan

Indra Harsaputra ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Surabaya   |  Thu, 03/27/2008 1:39 PM  |  The Archipelago

JUST OBEYING ORDERS: Thirteen marines leave a court session in line after a trial hearing Tuesday at the Surabaya tribunal, for their alleged involvement in a fatal clash with villagers in Pasuruan. (JP/Indra Harsaputra)

Thirteen marines went on trial at the Surabaya tribunal Wednesday on murder charges for their alleged involvement in the shooting to death of four villagers in Alas Tlogo, Pasuruan, East Java, last May.

During the trial, presided by Lt. Col. Akhmad Mulyana, military prosecutors in their indictment said the defendants had opened fire on a group villagers protesting the illegal appropriation of their land, leaving four dead and eleven others injured. The prosecutors said the defendants could be punished with up to 12 years imprisonment and dismissed from the military service, according to Military Codes.

The prosecutors said the 13 defendants -- First Lt. Budi Santoso, Second Sgt. Wahyudi, Second Sgt. Abdul Rahman, Chief Corp. Lihari, Second Corp. Muhammad Suratno, Second Corp. Totok Lukistantoto, Second Corp. Warsim, Second Corp. Helmi Widiantoro, Second Corp. Slamet Riyadi, and Privates Agus Triyadi, Mukhamad Yunus, Sariman and Suyatno -- did not heed orders from combat training center vice commander, Major Husni Sukarwo, and operation division officer, Major Umar Bakri, to avoid physical contact with the group of villagers.

The indictment, read by Major Achmad Agung Iswanto, described the incident occurring on May 30, 2007. According to the indictment, the 13 defendants received an order to conduct foot patrol around the complex wearing military fatigues and armed. Only one of them was wearing plain-clothes.

They carried 10 SSK-1 assault rifles and two 9-mm FN handguns.

"When they were at the site where a backhoe was contouring land in the PT Kebun Grati Agung plantation, they were approached by local residents. They were engaged in negotiation," he said.

Platoon commander First Lt. Budi Santoso then yelled out, "Where's the village head, I'll kill him if I find him."

One of protesters who were gathering, replied, "Sir, if you want a war, (it's) not here but in East Timor."

A clash ensued after a number of villagers tossed hard objects to the soldiers. Several marines fired warning shots using blanks.

The marines later replaced the blanks with rubber bullets and then again with live bullets. They fired shots at the ground, which ricocheted and hit the victims.

Another military prosecutor said several of the marines fired the live bullets not at the ground but directly into the crowd, who were standing approximately two meters away.

More than 50 rubber or live bullets are believed to be fired into the crowd.

"Based on autopsy results, blunt projectiles were lodged in the back of the heads of three of the four dead victims, while the other victim died from bullet wounds to his chest. The 11 injured were hit by projectile fragments," said prosecutor Major Achmad.

Ruhut Sitompul, who led a team of lawyers for the defendants, said, "This case is purely an incident which was not planned beforehand. It occurred suddenly and can not be categorized as a gross violation of human rights," he said.

Surabaya Legal Aid Institute has condemned the incident as gross human rights crime, saying an ad hoc human right trial should be established to try the defendants.

The legal aids institute's executive director, Mochammad Faiq Assiddiqi, said before the shooting incident, human rights violations had taken place within the village. Threats were reportedly made against villagers in an attempt to prevent them from taking back the land, which has been rented by private companies.

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