Indonesia court acquits General of Muslim massacre

The head of the Indonesian Army's special forces was acquitted yesterday of crimes against humanity involving the massacre of 23 Muslim activists two decades ago.

Major-General Sriyanto Munt-rasan had been accused of prompting soldiers to shoot into a crowd of demonstrators when he was an Army captain in 1984 near Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port.

At least 23 people died and more than 50 were wounded in the incident. A crowd of thousands had been demonstrating for the release of detained activists.