Gen. Tyasno denies involvement in fake money case

BANDUNG (JP): Army Chief of Staff Gen. Tyasno Sudarto flatly denied on Thursday his alleged involvement in the case of production and distribution of fake rupiah notes totaling up to Rp 19.2 billion.

"It (the accusation) is not true. It's the same as a thief shouting 'thief!' to blame it on other people," Tyasno told reporters in the West Java capital of Bandung after the handover ceremony of the Siliwangi Military command from Maj. Gen. Slamet Supriyadi to Maj. Gen. Zainuri Hasyim, the former Tanjungpura Military chief in Kalimantan.

As previously reported, a defendant in the Rp 19.2 billion counterfeit money case named Ismail Putra told a Tuesday hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court that the fake money was produced with the full knowledge of Tyasno, then chief of the Indonesian Military Intelligence Agency (BIA).

When asked whether the case was a conspiracy effort to smear the Army and the Indonesian Military (TNI), the four-star Army general simply replied:

"I never thought about it that far."

When reporters tried to push him further with additional questions, Tyasno asked them to direct inquiries to the Army spokesman, Brig. Gen. F.X. Bachtiar.

Tyasno then rushed into a guest room of the Siliwangi Football Stadium, the venue of the ceremony, apparently in an effort to avoid journalists.

According to spokesman Bachtiar, the accusations directed toward his superior are part of a conspiracy effort to weaken the TNI.

"This is one of those motions to weaken the TNI. That's what I see as going on right now. But this is only a part of a bigger process, which is to create a state of national disintegration.

"Since the TNI have been badly battered on almost all fronts lately, we have to watch out for the possibility of further attempts to divide or even destroy us," Bachtiar said.

"Certain parties will always try to shake the military as they see it as a source of power that must be disabled in their bid to rule the country," he added.

Bachtiar also revealed that when he showed Tyasno the paper (which reported the fake rupiah case), the four star general was acting normal when he said: "What's that?.. Well, that would be it."

"It seems that he knew (the report) was part of a conspiracy effort from certain parties who want to smear him and the military," Bachtiar said but did not disclose the name of the paper.

The controversial testimony delivered by defendant Ismail at the Jakarta court was only covered in a few newspapers.

Ismail, one of nine defendants in the crime and also named as the leader of the group, told the court that the man he knew as Gen. Tyasno Sudarto was fully aware that the fake money was produced for the interests of the TNI and to settle problems in East Timor.

It remained unclear whether the court would also later summon Tyasno.

Asked if Tyasno had a plan to file a lawsuit for defamation toward the defendant who had named him in the court, Bachtiar replied:

"We'll see. If the court fails to prove it, the matter will die down by itself. So why rush things?"

The army spokesman also said that the court has not yet filed any summons to Tyasno.

"I think we don't have to take the matter seriously. Let the people make their own judgment," Bachtiar said.

Asked whether it is common practice between members of the Army to utilize fake bills, since they have been struggling with weapons and budget shortages while handling widespread riots in the country, Bachtiar firmly denied it.

"No! We'll never think of such things. It's true that we are facing difficulties but we are not that desperate."

A previous fake notes case involved a senior Army member who was also a Thomas Cup manager, Col. (ret) Soemarjono. He is facing a possible sentence of life imprisonment for allegedly masterminding the production and distribution of counterfeit money totaling Rp 4.7 billion. (25/edt)