Soekardjo retracts earlier statement<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): A former bodyguard of president Sukarno
\nretracted on Wednesday his statement that he saw the founding
\npresident forced at gunpoint in 1966 to sign the monumental
\ndocument which set in motion Soeharto's ascent to the presidency.<\/p>\n
Soekardjo Wilardjito, 71, said he witnessed Gen. (ret.)
\nMaraden Panggabean and Maj. Gen. Basuki Rachmat finger their
\npistols in their holsters while two other generals, Gen. (ret.)
\nM. Jusuf and Gen. Amirmachmud, looked on. Last month, he had said
\ntwo generals drew their FN 46 pistols and pointed them at
\nSukarno. Only Jusuf and Panggabean are still alive.<\/p>\n
\"He said he didn't mean that the two generals were pointing
\nthe guns at Bung Karno. Instead, he himself tried to point his
\ngun at the generals (as he wrongly thought they intended to shoot
\nSukarno) and Bung Karno stopped him,\" Chief of Yogyakarta Police
\nDetectives Unit Lt. Col. Erwin Tobing said.<\/p>\n
Tobing questioned Soekardjo for six hours at Yogyakarta police
\nheadquarters on suspicion of making a false report. Panggabean
\nhas denied Soekardjo's claims and maintains he was not even
\npresent at the signing of the document -- known by the acronym
\nSupersemar -- at the Bogor Presidential Palace on March 11, 1966.<\/p>\n
Soekardjo could face 10 years in jail if found guilty of
\nmaking a spurious claim. Supersemar empowered Soeharto, then Army
\nminister, to take measures to restore order following the aborted
\ncoup by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). He subsequently
\nrose to the presidency in a rule spanning 32 years until last
\nMay.<\/p>\n
The document and its far-reaching implications have been
\nlikened by some critics to a bloodless coup by Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Jusuf, 70, has supported Panggabean's statement, which also
\nconforms to the contemporary accounts of the event. He said he
\nwas only accompanied by Basuki and Amirmachmud to the palace to
\nmeet Sukarno.<\/p>\n
Jusuf stated last Friday that no one had threatened Sukarno
\nwith pistols.<\/p>\n
\"It is not true that Basuki Rachmat or any of us there carried
\na gun when meeting with president Sukarno.\"<\/p>\n
Soekardjo asserted last month that he was imprisoned without
\ntrial between 1966 and 1978 and lost his rights as a retired
\nofficer because of his knowledge of the event.<\/p>\n
He demanded that Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief of Sociopolitical
\nAffairs Lt. Gen. Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono clear his name on
\ncharges of involvement with the outlawed PKI.<\/p>\n
The current whereabouts of the document remain a mystery.
\nJusuf maintained last week that his knowledge of it ended after
\nhe presented it to Soeharto in Jakarta the day after the signing.
\nMany believed he retained it in his possession. (44\/swa)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soekardjo-retracts-earlier-statement-1447893297",
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