Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) Peurlak war commander, Sahrul bin Idris, 35, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on Thursday by the Medan District Court.

Presiding Judge NK Simatupang said Sahrul was convicted of illegally possessing an AK-47 weapon with 150 bullets, thus violating article 1 of Law No. 12/1950 on Civil Emergency.

Besides Sahrul, the district court also handed down its verdict against two other GAM members, Badruddin Jaffar, 23, and Saifuddin bin Hasan, 24. Each got one-and-a-half years imprisonment for illegally possessing an AK-47 weapon.

The district court's verdict against the three GAM members was lighter than was demanded by prosecutors, who demanded three years imprisonment for Sahrul and two years imprisonment each for Badruddin and Saifuddin.

After hearing the decision, Sahrul became angry and kicked the defendant' chair. He said he could not accept what he considered to be an unjust decision. Simatupang then ordered security personnel to bring Sahrul to the court's detention cell.

Sahrul's lawyer Dinas Tarigan contended that the arrest of his client on July 13 was against the cease fire, or the humanitarian pause as it is officially called, signed by the government and GAM representatives. But he did not say whether his client would appeal the decision.