Jakarta - A court in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh yesterday sentenced 24 soldiers and a civilian to up to 10 years in jail after finding them guilty of murdering 57 people last year.
The trial is 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 chief prosecutor, Mr Sukarno Yusuf, said in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh that all the defendants would appeal.
Yesterday's proceedings were guarded by hundreds of police.