Jakarta – An Indonesian military court on Monday sentenced four soldiers to between 24 and 30 months jail for torturing civilian detainees in Aceh province, a report said.

Lieutenant Colonel P.J. Piter, chief judge at the court martial in Banda Aceh, the Aceh capital, also ordered the four soldiers discharged from the armed forces, Antara news agency said. Prosecutors had sought a seven year jail term.

But defendant Amsir was sentenced to two years jail while Manolam Situmorang was sentenced to 26 months, Manuhun Harahap to 28 months, and Effendi to 30 months.

The panel of judges said the four were all guilty of torturing detainees.

The defendants and other soldiers allegedly tortured about 40 villagers detained at a building belonging to a youth organization in Lhokseumawe, 300 kilometers east of Banda Aceh last month. Five of the detainees died and 19 others were hospitalized with serious injuries.

The judges said the defendants would be thrown out of the army because their behavior had damaged the image and integrity of the forces. The military tribunal has already sentenced Major Bayu Najib, a former battalion commander and the soldiers' superior, to six and a half years prison over the killings. He was also dismissed from the army. Reports said the military would court martial 23 more soldiers over the same case.

The civilian detainees were arrested during army raids to hunt the alleged leader of a separatist group suspected of holding two soldiers as hostages. The raids followed the killing of seven soldiers and the abduction of two military officers in late December in Aceh.

The Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) movement has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the province Aceh since the mid- 1970s.