Soeharto had no intention of creating July 1996 unrest: Soeyono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Unlike other retired generals who have testified
\nagainst former president Soeharto, former Armed Forces (ABRI)
\nchief of general affairs Lt. Gen. (ret) Soeyono said on Tuesday
\nthat the country's former strongman did not have a part in the
\nJuly 27, 1996 violence.<\/p>\n
\"It was not his (Soeharto's) intention to cause the July 27,
\n1996 unrest. I followed him for four years... I know his body
\nlanguage. That was not his intention,\" Soeyono, once an adjutant
\nto Soeharto, told reporters at National Police headquarters.<\/p>\n
The general was questioned by National Police investigators as
\na witness in the investigation into the violent confrontations
\nthat occurred after supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PDI) chairman, Soerjadi, forcibly took over the party
\nheadquarters from the loyalists of the ousted PDI leader Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri in 1996.<\/p>\n
Former Jakarta military commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso and
\nformer ABRI chief of sociopolitical affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan
\nHamid testified last Thursday and Friday that the country's
\nformer \"political patron\" was behind the July 1996 violence.<\/p>\n
The two did not name the former political patron, but it is
\nbelieved that they were referring to Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Soeyono told police investigators that the Army did not
\ncollect funds to finance the operation to secure the capital
\nduring the 1996 unrest that spread through the Central Jakarta
\narea.<\/p>\n
\"We tried to protect the capital. It is not true that the Army
\napproached certain business tycoons here, to ask for hundreds of
\nmillions of rupiah for the capital's security,\" Soeyono said
\nafter seven hours of questioning.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Tyasno Sudarto said on
\nMonday that the Army had no official link with the unrest.<\/p>\n
Speaking after briefing recruits at the Army Staff and Command
\nSchool (Seskoad) in Bandung, West Java, Tyasno said the Army, as
\na component of the country's defense and security, only carried
\nout its duties; just as it did in Aceh, East Timor, Irian Jaya
\nand Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
\"Operationally, the Army just followed instructions. There was
\na legal basis in the hands of the Army Headquarters,\" he said
\nwithout elaborating.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, incumbent PDI chairman Budi Hardjono called on both
\nthe government and the National Police on Monday to arrest the
\nmasterminds of the July 27 incident, and not just the \"small-
\nfry\".<\/p>\n
Budi said Soeharto also should be questioned, since he must
\nhave known of the plan before its execution.<\/p>\n
\"If the police are truly serious about getting answers to this
\nwhole incident, that's the only way,\" Budi said.<\/p>\n
The National Commission on Human Rights recorded that five
\npeople were killed, 149 were injured and 23 went missing in the
\nconfrontations that followed the forcible takeover of PDI
\nheadquarters.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Bandung, Minister of Defense and Security Juwono
\nSudarsono and Indonesian Military Chief of Staff Admiral Widodo
\nsaid all parties must wait for the results of police questioning
\nof former military officers and civilian officials with knowledge
\nof the incident.<\/p>\n
The investigations of some generals for their alleged
\ninvolvement in the incident are part of the legal process, Juwono
\nand Widodo said in a separate interview after addressing a
\n\"Strategic Forum\" meeting at the Army Staff and Command School
\n(Seskoad) on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The forum is being held as a consequence of a recent meeting
\nof top Army brass in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The forum is expected to develop valuable input for the
\nchanges in the Army's defense system in line with the Military's
\ninternal reforms. The forum is scheduled to end on May 10.
\n(25\/sur\/ylt\/imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soeharto-had-no-intention-of-creating-july-1996-unrest-soeyono-1447893297",
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