The Indonesian military gunned down a village head in the troubled province of Aceh and threatened to shoot others urging a boycott of coming national elections, human rights activists say.
"Intimidation is increasing and this is just the tip of the iceberg," said Hamzah, head of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre,a human rights group in the province on the tip of Sumatra island.
But a military spokesman denied that security forces were terrorising Acehnese in the run-up to parliamentary elections on April 5 and a presidential ballot on July 5.
"We are committed to ensuring elections take place. These activists are just trying to discredit us," said Lieutenant Colonel Asep Sapari.
Soldiers shot a village head, identified as Nurdin Rahman, at his home in Pidie town, after he refused to provide a list of villagers who had not registered to vote, said Hamzah.
He was speaking on behalf of a regional coalition of non-governmental groups.
