Soldiers jailed for Aceh massacre

The defendants said they were following orders

Twenty-four soldiers and a civilian have been convicted and jailed for killing scores of people in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

The trial was seen as a test of the government's commitment to bring justice to Aceh after years of military abuses and economic exploitation which have fanned separatism in the province.

The defendants were jailed for up to 10 years for killing an Islamic religious teacher and 56 of his followers in an attack on the village of Beutong Ateuh last July.

Their sentence was longer than had been demanded by state prosecutors - the judge said they had showed no regrets.

The army insisted at the time that the civilians were killed in an exchange of fire during a raid against separatist guerrillas of the Free Aceh Movement.

But eyewitnesses contradict this, saying the soldiers shot the victims at point blank range and then set fire to houses in the village.

No arms were found on those killed by the military.

The defence in the trial had said the accused soldiers were only following orders.

No officers were charged in connection with the massacre.

Indonesia last week signed a three-month suspension of hostilities in Geneva with representatives of Aceh's separatist movement.

Crackdown on rebels

Human rights groups say an army crackdown over the last decade has killed thousands of people.

There has been a massive upsurge in violence this year as the police and army tried to suppress separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement.

President Abdurrahman Wahid recently ordered the removal of the police officer leading the crackdown on rebels, summoning him back to Jakarta for investigation.

His government has promised to bring to justice any members of the security forces involved in human rights abuses.

The government hopes the trial will help defuse demands for Aceh to break away from Indonesia - though at the ceasefire ceremony last week, separatist leaders said they had no intention of giving up their demands for independence.