Wiranto: What to do with him?<\/p>\n
Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
\nkorpur@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
When the Office of the Prosecutor General of Timor Leste
\nindicted former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. (ret)
\nWiranto, along with other six senior officers and a former East
\nTimor governor for crimes against humanity, Indonesian officials
\nresponded to the indictment more as a matter of legal
\ntechnicality rather than as touching the substance of justice.<\/p>\n
\"We also have to see whether such a request (to extradite the
\naccused) is legally possible,\" President Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nsaid in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday when asked about the
\nprosecution.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda called on the UN
\nand East Timor to respect the ongoing human rights trial in
\nJakarta. The minister stressed, \"Legally, they do not have the
\ncapacity to reach non-East Timorese citizens.\"<\/p>\n
Legislator Permadi even demanded that Timor Leste President
\nXanana Gusmao should also be brought to court along with Wiranto
\nfor the same crimes that he was allegedly responsible for. Maybe
\nPermadi had forgotten that Xanana was sentenced to 20 years in
\njail for subversion, and had served the sentence for several
\nyears in Cipinang prison in East Jakarta. It was president B.J.
\nHabibie who pardoned Xanana just before the referendum in 1999.<\/p>\n
Wiranto has denied accusations that he was responsible for the
\nviolence that occurred after the 1999 independence referendum.
\nThe UN agreed to let an Indonesian court handle the gross human
\nrights violations. However, so far there is very little hope that
\njustice will eventually be upheld.<\/p>\n
One of the ad hoc court judges lambasted Dili Bishop Carlos
\nFelipe Ximenes Belo's refusal to testify, saying Belo did not
\ndeserve to be a bishop because of his refusal.<\/p>\n
The state is obliged to defend Wiranto's rights against any
\ninternational attempt to charge him, because the indictment
\nconcerns his official status as TNI commander at the time. In the
\ncoming weeks, street rallies to defend Wiranto and other officers
\nmight occur.<\/p>\n
It is hurtful, if not a humiliation, for many Indonesians that
\ntheir general is wanted by the country's former colony East Timor
\nfor gross human rights abuses during the 1999 independence
\nreferendum in the territory. Since the economic crisis hit the
\ncountry in 1997, the international community has treated
\nIndonesia as a pariah state, and there is no indication of when
\nthe nation can regain its position as an honorable member of the
\nworld community.<\/p>\n
As we have suffered from continuous humiliation for six years,
\nthere is fear that we may also lose our sense of consciousness,
\nif not humanity. We tend to sideline the most fundamental
\nquestion: Why does this disparagement continue? We prefer to ask
\nwhat is wrong with other people rather than ourselves.<\/p>\n
Many believe there is a grand scenario to break up Indonesia,
\nas happened with the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, by the
\nU.S. and other western countries because a strong Indonesia is a
\nthreat to their superiority. Even if there were such a scenario,
\nshouldn't we also ask ourselves how it came about?<\/p>\n
Do not blame other nations for not trusting our legal system,
\nbecause their view is also shared by most Indonesians. Corrupt
\nprosecutors, police and even judges become the subject of routine
\nnews reports. The indictment against the generals only reflects
\ninternational distrust of the government's ability to resolve the
\nmatter.<\/p>\n
And could Minister Hassan honestly trust his own appeal to
\nrespect the ongoing human rights trial in Jakarta? He would laugh
\n(most likely).<\/p>\n
The nation should not let Wiranto or any Indonesian citizens
\nbe humiliated by a foreign court. But we can take that stance
\nonly after we can prove that our legal system has worked
\nsufficiently to uphold justice.<\/p>\n
Former president Soeharto lives in peace at his residence in
\nMenteng, Central Jakarta. Hundreds of students who marched daily
\nto Megawati's residence on Jl. Teuku Umar to protest her policy
\non price hikes even seemed to forget that Soeharto's residence is
\nonly a few hundred meters from Megawati's.<\/p>\n
Remember the journalist Muhammad Fuad \"Udin\" Syafruddin who
\nwas killed in 1996, a murder widely linked to his reports on
\nalleged corruption by then Bantul regent Col. Sri Roso? The media
\ncommunity holds out little hope that Udin's killer will be found.<\/p>\n
Regarding Wiranto, we hope that he can continue enjoying life
\nin peace if his pledge of innocence is proven.<\/p>\n
However, we should not forget the case of former Serbian
\npresident Milan Milutinovic and Yugoslavian president Slobodan
\nMilosevic, who currently face the International Court of Justice
\nin The Hague for their alleged atrocities. They had to go to The
\nHague because their two countries failed to uphold justice.<\/p>\n
There is no intention to corner the TNI here. The nation needs
\na strong military force to defend the people from outside
\nthreats. TNI leaders have also reiterated that they are subject
\nto the law just like any other Indonesian citizen.<\/p>\n
The nation can be trapped into narrow-minded nationalism in
\nfacing international pressure to bring the officers to court. But
\nas long as the roots of the problems remain untouched, the nation
\nremains in denial.<\/p>\n
Sometimes we do admit things in private, however. Once, a
\nminister staunchly defended his colleague who faced charges of
\nsexually harassing a male hotel employee in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
In public the minister strongly defended the fellow Cabinet
\nmember. But when asked in private whether he really believed in
\nhis friend's innocence, he burst into laughter.<\/p>\n
Should we also laugh when asked about our law enforcement?<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wiranto-what-to-do-with-him-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }