Gen. Tyasno denies involvement in fake money case

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)