Trial of 25 in Aceh Massacre Begins

Indonesia’s new reformist government convened a trial Wednesday of soldiers accused in the massacre of 57 students and teachers in strife-torn Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

The trial was meant to show Indonesia’s determination to clean up its human rights record, but activists in the country and abroad doubted the value of a proceeding in which no senior commanders have been charged.

Dozens of demonstrators, carrying banners reading “This trial is nonsense” and demanding the prosecution of top generals, clashed with riot police outside the courthouse. Two students were slightly injured in the melee.

In Aceh, a state prosecutor told a special court that the 24 soldiers and one civilian standing trial had committed “premeditated murder,” a crime punishable by death.

The 25 defendants were not asked to enter pleas, and the case was adjourned until Saturday.

Human rights activists have criticized the authorities for prosecuting only lower-ranking service personnel involved in the shooting last July of 57 unarmed civilians attending an Islamic class in Beutong Ateuh village in western Aceh.

Witnesses say the soldiers rounded up a group of villagers and took them to a nearby forest where they were executed. The army says the victims were rebel fighters killed in a gun battle with troops.

A statement by the New York-based group Human Rights Watch said the trial will be seen as “tokenism” unless senior commanders face justice.