Indonesia, July 23 -- The Wamena District Court in Papua Pegunungan has sentenced a police officer who deserted to join a Papuan rebel group to eight years' imprisonment for stealing and unlawfully possessing rifles and ammunition.

Presiding judge Hirmawan Agung Wicaksono announced the guilty verdict during a court session on Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists after the court session, the Wamena District Court's spokesperson, Saifullah Anwar, stated that the court's panel of judges found Aske Mabel guilty of violating Article 363 of the Indonesian Criminal Code on theft and Emergency Law No.12 of 1951 on firearm possession.

He stated that the judge's sentence was lighter than the nine-year imprisonment sought by prosecutors, adding that ...