Pontianak – A teenager has been sentenced to seven years in jail for inciting clashes between Madurese refugees and local Dayaks in Pontianak.

The ethnic clashes claimed four lives, injured many others, and resulted in a badminton hall sheltering 120 refugees being razed to the ground.

Fauzi, a 16-year-old Dayak, was found guilty of inciting the clashes in June this year by a panel of judges at the Pontianak district court on Thursday.

The clashes erupted after the seizure of belongings of a Madurese refugee family by Fauzi, who was assisted by his friends Sani, Rahmudin and Syamsul. During the seizure, the six-year-old son of Busrah, the refugee, was killed, inflaming the already-tense relationship between the two communities.

The refugees are Madurese migrants who have fled ethnic clashes in Sambas since 1999. They were temporarily housed in sport halls, stadiums and a Haj dormitory in Pontianak.