JAKARTA (Reuters) – 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, authorities said.
Six soldiers had gone on trial, but one died before a verdict was reached.
The court in Papua found on Wednesday four guilty of premeditated murder, with two receiving life terms and the other two a 15-year and a 20-year prison sentence, the court document showed.
Last month, another soldier received a life sentence over his role in the killings.
The men were fired from the military.
Reuters could not immediately determine how they had pleaded or contact their legal representatives.
Indonesia maintains a heavy military presence in Papua, where small groups of separatist fighters have for decades waged a low-level, but increasingly deadly battle for independence.
The military has faced accusations of human rights abuses in Papua, which it has denied, but investigations into such allegations are rare.
Papua police said one of the victims was linked to the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), a separatist group in the region.
A spokesperson for the TPNPB last year called on the government to hold the perpetrators accountable for the killings or risk further violence.
(This story has been refiled to remove extraneous word in the headline)
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Ed Davies)
