T

he Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has demanded that two soldiers implicated in the murder of a family of four in North Sumatra be tried in a civilian court to ensure transparency.

Kontras civil and political rights division head Putri Kanesia said on Wednesday that the soldiers, identified as chief Pvt. Puji and chief Pvt. Samsunardi Saragih from the Army'€™s Medium Air Defense Artillery Battalion (Arhanudse) in Binjai, may not face murder charges.

'€œAlamsyah and Rendi, two civilians who allegedly also committed the murder, will be charged under articles 340 and 338 of the Criminal Code [KUHP] on premeditated murder. But military prosecutors are planning to charge the soldiers with receiving stolen goods,'€ she said in a press conference in Jakarta.

It is alleged that Alamsyah conspired with Rendi and the soldiers to murder a 46-year-old farmer, Misnan, his wife, Suliah, 46, and two children '€” Dedek, 21, and Tria, 14 '€” at a plantation in Langkat, North Sumatra on Oct. 9, 2013.

Alamsyah allegedly promised the soldiers Rp 100 million (US$8,600) if they took part in the murder.

'€œIt appears there was a debt problem between the suspect [Alamsyah] and the victim. However, the victim'€™s family had no idea about it,'€ Putri said.

In the evening, Alamsyah invited Misnan'€™s family to perform some rituals in the Tanjung Keliling plantation area, also known as Bukit Setan, to obtain a sacred kris (dagger) worth hundreds of millions of rupiah.

Lured by the fake offer, the family came to the meeting spot and drank beverages mixed with pesticides by Alamsyah.

After losing consciousness, the family was beaten and stabbed to death by Alamsyah and his accomplices. Their remains were placed at two spots in Batang subdistrict, Langkat.

Alamsyah and Rendi, who will soon stand trial, face the death sentence under two counts of premeditated murder.

The military prosecutors, tasked with handling the case, said they had not found strong indications that the soldiers had committed the murder, despite evidence presented to them by the police. So far, the soldiers will only be indicted for keeping a motorcycle stolen from Misnan after the murder.

'€œThe military prosecutors in Medan said they were still studying the murder accusation,'€ said Oka Laksmana from Kontras'€™ North Sumatra chapter.

Sri Ayuningsih, the oldest and only surviving child of Misnan, called on the government to restore justice for the victim family by handing down the appropriate punishment for all the assailants.

Kontras and Sri urged the defense minister and law and human rights minister to sign a document authorizing civil tribunals for the soldiers, as regulated in Article 197 of the 1997 Military Tribunals Law.