ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – 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”.
