Abdi Purmono, Pasuruan – The sentences handed down by the III-12 Surabaya Military Court against 13 marines who were charged over the shooting of Alastlogo village residents in the Lekok sub-district of Pasuruan, East Java, has deeply disappointed local people.

According to Mahmud, a youth figure from the Sumberanyar village, the punishment does not reflect justice, particularly for the people of Alastlogo.

“We join in feeling the sadness of the Alastlogo villagers. We, and other villagers will continue to struggle to defend our land from control by the navy”, said Mahmud when speaking with Tempo in Monday August 18.

According to Mahmud, the defendants should have been sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in jail, even life imprisonment if necessary. Moreover, the defendants should have been taken before the Human Rights Court because their actions can be categorised as a gross human rights violation because the shooting was carried out in a systematic manner.

It is appropriate that the defendants receive the heaviest possible sentence because they have a better understanding of law enforcement than villagers, the majority of whom are unable to read or write.

“They are the ones who understand the law. They are the ones who should protect the people, but instead they shot ordinary people will bullets bought with the people’s money. Why not just sentence them to the same thing”, said Mahmud.

Speaking in the same vein, Sumberanyar village chief Purwo Eko said that the judges should have handed down the heaviest possible sentence because they were state officials.

“The sentence wasn’t heavy enough and not in line with their actions against local people. The defendants should have been given heavier sentences and dismissed. So, [all of them] not just three be dismissed and even this is a lenient sentence”, said Eko.

Alastlogo village chief Imam Supnadi also said he was dissatisfied. Like Mahmud and Eko, he is also of the view that the lenient sentence was influenced by the weak indictment. “It also depends on the sentence demanded by the prosecutor, right”, said Supnadi.

Alastlogo residents are asking the prosecutor to submit an appeal with heavier charges so that the judges can sentence them to more than five years in jail and dismiss all of the defendants from the navy.

The bloody Alastlogo incident erupted on May 30, 2007 when 13 marines from the Navy’s Combat Training Centre, which has its headquarters on the Grati regency, clashed with local residents.

The clash began with a protest by residents over the seizure of disputed land by a contractor using a marine guard escort. As a result, four people were shot dead and around eight others wounded.

[Slightly abridged translation by James Balowski. Alastlogo is also known as Alas Tlogo village.]