Indonesia tries Aceh soldiers

The three soldiers are accused of beating up civilians

Three Indonesian soldiers have gone on trial in Aceh province, accused of human right abuses against civilians during the military's ongoing offensive against separatist rebels in the area.

Chief prosecutor Major Maryanto said the men were "suspected of battery and disobeying orders", and could face up to two years in jail if found guilty.

Both Gam and Acehnese civilians have accused the army of perpetrating acts of brutality, both before and after the crackdown started on 19 May, but the military has repeatedly stated its intention not to harm civilians.

The commander of the military operation in Aceh, Brigadier General Bambang Darmono, has said he "will firmly punish" errant soldiers.

The three Indonesian soldiers facing trial - First Private Saiful Bahri, and second privates Toni Naryanto and Agus Hidayat - are alleged to have beaten up several villagers during a raid on the north Aceh town of Lawang on 27 May.

Military prosecutor Captain Siregar told the court in Lhokseumawe that the accused soldiers became angry after villagers claimed they did not know any Gam members in the area.

The village chief was beaten up and suffered an eye injury, and another two people were badly injured, the prosecutor said.

Four more soldiers, including a ranking officer, are expected to go on trial later this week - three for taking part in the incident in Lawang.

With the offensive now in its third week, troops are continuing to hunt down rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (Gam).

There are 40,000 Indonesian soldiers in Aceh, fighting an estimated 5,000 Gam rebels.

The army says it has already killed more than 100 members of Gam since the crackdown began - but Gam insists that many of those killed were civilians.

Indonesian police warned on Tuesday that they were also seeking to prosecute activists who supported Gam.

Spokesman Sayed Husaini said the police had a long list of activists' names, as well as evidence against them.

"We will use the (criminal code) article on subversion, which carries up to the death sentence, against them," he told the French news agency AFP.

The Indonesian authorities have also said they intend to ask Malaysia and Thailand to extradite Acehnese rebel leaders living there.

The move follows a similar request to Sweden, which the authorities in Stockholm rejected over the weekend.

Zakaria Samad, said to be Gam's defence chief, is thought to be living in Thailand, and Indonesian police spokesman Da'i Bachtiar said a team of officers would soon leave for Bangkok to ask whether Samad was a Thai citizen.

"If it is true, police will officially ask the Thai Government to hand over him to Indonesia," Mr Bachtiar said.