Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has mooted the idea of a military discipline law to address a recent spate of cases of soldiers involved in criminal conduct, but has stopped short of saying they should be tried in civilian courts.

"In view of recent developments regarding the conduct of certain military personnel, there seems to be a need for a bill on military legal discipline to be drafted," Purnomo said at a House of Representatives hearing on Monday.

He added that his ministry had previously drawn up such a bill and proposed it for inclusion into the House's list of priority legislation for the 2010-2014 period, but that it was left out.

Purnomo said he hoped that in light of the recent events, the House would realize the importance of deliberating the bill.

However, the minister did not say whether the bill would call for soldiers involved in crimes against civilians to be tried in a civilian court instead of a military tribunal, as rights activists and legislators have demanded. He also declined to say how it would differ from the current law on military tribunals.

His statements came in response to legislators' questions over measures being taken by the Defense Ministry to address a series of incidents of misconduct by soldiers against civilians.

The military has come under fire recently for a string of violent incidents involving soldiers. Most recently, a group of soldiers from an infantry battalion in South Jakarta forced their way into the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) headquarters on April 20 and assaulted, injured three people.

The incident reportedly stemmed from a traffic spat involving a soldier that the security guards from the PDI-P compound had tried to help resolve.

It came less than a month after Army Special Forces (Kopassus) commandos raided a jail in Yogyakarta's Sleman district on March 23 and summarily executed four detainees who were suspected of killing a fellow Kopassus member.

The attack sparked a debate about the progress of military reforms and worries over the country's state of lawlessness.