Defence Ministry Launches Internal Investigation After Five Die During Military Training

The Ministry of Defence has stressed it has no immediate plans to pursue legal proceedings over the deaths of five participants during military training under the Sarjana Penggerak Pembangunan Indonesia (SPPI) programme for the Koperasi Desa/Kelurahan Merah Putih (KDKMP) and Kampung Nelayan Merah Putih (KNMP). Deputy Defence Minister Donny Ermawan said the ministry is currently prioritising an internal investigation to uncover the cause of the incident. “Not yet, we are not heading in that direction (legal process), because we are still conducting an internal investigation first,” Donny said at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Wednesday (1/7). Donny stated the investigation is being carried out by a joint team formed with the Ministry of Health. “We have taken investigative action; from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Health, we have been proactive. We are doing this because we want to find out the truth. We are tracing what the medical check-ups were like in the regions, whether there is any additional data,” he said. Donny also explained several causes behind the deaths of the five participants. The first was exhaustion and a change in lifestyle. “Previously they might have had a civilian life, then entered barrack life and so on, where everything must be disciplined, so that might also have been a shock. Besides that, the weather factor was also the first one,” he said. The deaths were also suspected to have been caused by pre-existing medical conditions. Donny said the participants had previously undergone health checks. “Then the third is related to the lungs. So these three are roughly the reasons why there were five. Two were because of the lungs, three were because of the heart,” he said.