The Bandung Military Court II-09 handed down a death penalty for 23-year-old Second Pvt. Mart Azzanul Ikhwan on Wednesday for murdering a pregnant woman and her mother in Garut.

'€œThe defendant, Mart Azzanul Ikhwan, has been found '€” both legally and convincingly '€” to have carried out premeditated murders. We hand down the death penalty,'€ said presiding judge Lt. Col. Sugeng Sutrisno, as he read out the verdict.

The verdict was much heavier than that demanded by the oditur (military prosecutors), who recommended a 20-year jail term and a discharge from service for the soldier from the Army'€™s Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) 303rd Infantry Battalion.

Relatives of the deceased Opon, 39, and her daughter Shinta, 19, expressed their joy at the verdict to the point where Sugeng had to calm them down.

Mart, attending the trial wearing green fatigue battle dress uniform and a green beret, was visibly shocked after hearing the verdict. Sugeng ordered two Military Police (MP) officers to flank Mart before the verdict was read out.

Sugeng then ordered Mart to return to his bench. The defendant was passive as the two MPs escorted him back to his bench.

Mart said he would consider the verdict after consulting with his lawyers, while the oditur accepted the outcome.

Opon'€™s husband, Juju, said the verdict was in line with his family'€™s expectations.

Opon'€™s sister, Dedeh, said the family accepted the verdict. '€œIt is all over now. The family is satisfied as it is what we want,'€ she said.

The murders took place in February after Shinta '€” then eight months pregnant '€” said Mart was the father of her child and that he should take responsibility.

When Mart refused to do so, Opon threatened to file a report with his superior.

Mart then brought the two women to a vegetable orchard in Panagan hamlet, Sukawargi village, Garut regency, West Java, on a motorcycle while carrying a bayonet.

Telling the women that the area could only be accessed on foot, the three set off to the orchard, with Mart killing Opon first, then Shinta, en route.

Many parties had protested the 20-year jail term requested by the oditur, saying it was too light.

Separately, in Palembang, South Sumatra, two civilians and two Air Force (TNI AU) soldiers were injured following a clash between residents and soldiers who were securing an Air Force Base.

The civilians, Agung, 18, and Amiru, 22, were rushed to Muhammad Husein Hospital with gunshot wounds to the arm and chest, respectively.

They were shot by members of the Air Force Special Forces (Paskhas), who were securing heavy equipment used to clear a plot of land at the base.

Among the Paskhas soldiers, First Pvt. Astrio Windarto was shot in his chest, with the shot believed to have come from an air rifle.

In addition, First Pvt. Rohmadi suffered injuries to his head from machete slashes. Both soldiers were treated at Bahayangkara Police Hospital.

The incident started when residents near the base began protesting against the TNI AU clearing a plot of disputed land.

The villages were previously on a 220-hectare plot of land, while the TNI AU claimed the land based on a 1973 land certificate.

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