Incidents illustrate offenses involving TNI members

Incidents illustrate offenses involving TNI members

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

One needs only to follow media reports closely to learn about the
grave challenges faced by the TNI in building a professional
army. The following examples show the offenses committed by
members of the military and are presented at random to give an
insight into the matter.

The cases presented below do not include cases that are highly
publicized, such as the TNI's alleged involvement in the murder
of Papuan independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay and in a number of
bombings.

* On Jan. 12, 2000, a chief private shot dead a hoodlum in
Bandung over the allegedly unfair distribution of profits from
their crimes.

* On Feb. 11, 2000, three TNI members were caught red-handed
stealing shrimp from a shrimp pond belonging to PT Dipasena Citra
Darmaja in Bandarlampung.

* In April, 2000, the court martial began of Lt. Agus Isrok,
who was arrested in August 1999 in a raid on a Jakarta hotel.
About 7,000 ecstasy pills, 500 grams of heroin, cannabis and
other narcotics were found in the room. At the time, his father,
Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo, was the Army's top commander.

* In April, 2000, a mob detained a Navy captain accused of
robbery at Belawan fishing port. The officer and his gang of
robbers allegedly stole Rp 23 million from two fish traders.

* On April 12, 2000, a crowd burned a Kijang van belonging to
an Army sergeant major after he and four other officers attempted
to steal a motorbike in Bandung.

* On April 20, 2000, West Java Police uncovered an illegal
weapons sale syndicate involving two Army sergeant majors and an
Army lieutenant colonel. Police also confiscated four revolvers
and an FN gun, plus dozens of bullets and an M-16 magazine from
the suspects.

* On April 20, 2000, Lt. Col. Adung Buchori went on a rampage
in the Cibiru Police Station in Bandung after police refused to
release his son who was detained for involvement in a brawl with
several street signers.

* On May 21, 2000, a member of the Military Police unit at the
Iskandar Muda Air Force base in Blang Bintang was arrested in
possession of 2.5 kg of dried hemp.

* On June 5, 2000, two Navy members, Second Private Didi M. and
Corporal Taryono, beat two East Java provincial civilian police
officers after the latter's motorcycle scratched their car.

* On June 7, 2000, two members of the Wijayakusuma Regional
Military Command in Purwokerto were detained for physically
abusing a masseur, Yanti, 25, at a massage parlor in Kaliori
village, Banyumas regency.

* In June 2000, dozens of bus crews and drivers plying the
Semarang-Surabaya route went on strike to protest the beating of
a bus conductor, Suparni, 28, by members of the Diponegoro
Military Command at Terboyo bus terminal in Semarang.

* On July 7, 2000, First Private Yulianto of the 643rd Infantry
Battalion stationed in Belu, East Nusa Tenggara, was ordered to
pay a fine of Rp 3.5 million for beating up two Catholic priests.

* On July 15, 2000, a member of 512th Field Artillery
Battalion stationed in Ngawi, East Java, was beaten by a crowd
after he was caught red-handed stealing a motorcycle from the
Gontor Islamic boarding school in Ponorogo, East Java.

* On Aug. 4, 2000, eight members of the 744th Infantry
Battalion stationed in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, were detained
after they went on a rampage, killing one civilian, wounding 112
others and damaging dozens of houses after one of their fellow
soldiers was killed by a market thug.

* On Aug. 9, 2000, an Army private was dishonorably discharged
from his unit and later tried for stealing 7,200 rounds of 9mm
ammunition and a case of 1,710 5.56mm ammunition. He was arrested
by police during a routine traffic check on Aug. 9.

* On Sept. 1, 2000, Brawijaya Military Command Chief Maj. Gen.
Sudi Silalahi said he had proposed that TNI Chief Adm. Widodo AS
discharge Col. (Navy) Budo Sadiharso, chairman of the TNI/Polri
faction in the East Java legislature, and Col. (Army) M. Muchtar,
a member of the legislature, for forging travel permits. The two
requested permits to visit Medan and Manado, but later another
travel permit suddenly appeared, which turned out to be fake,
granting them authorization to visit Batam, Singapore, Malaysia
and Thailand.

* In September 2000, Temanggung Police arrested an Army chief
sergeant who, along with another four suspects, had committed a
series of robbery along the Magelang-Temanggung highway.

* On Sept. 23, 2000, several members of the Diponegoro Military
Command joined a group of 50 people to force their way into a
warehouse owned by the Blora Police and took two motorcycles
after first beating the police officers in charge. Nine police
officers were wounded during the attack.

* On Feb. 1, 2001, hundreds of container trucks plying the
Banda Aceh-Medan route began a strike to protest extortion by
policemen and TNI troops. The drivers claimed they had to pay
between Rp 400,000 and Rp 500,000 to security officers along the
route.

* On March 20, 2001, two members of the Marines shot a police
officer in a quarrel over who was in charge of security at a free
dangdut show in Gaplek, Pondok Cabe, Pamulang, Tangerang. Angry
onlookers detained the two Marines and handed them over to the
police.

* On June 18, 2001, Air Force Sgt. Maj. Agus Jaelani and Sgt.
Maj. Sutrisno were detained by the Air Force Military Police in
Yogyakarta for involvement in the murder of Teguh Aribowo. The
accused, along with two other civilian accomplices, killed Teguh
and burned his body. The accused said they committed the murder
because Teguh had cheated the four out of hundreds of millions of
rupiah, land and houses.

* On June 28, 2001, a North Maluku forestry official said TNI
troops contributed to the declining number of the rare Nuri
birds mostly found in Halmahera. The official said thousands of
Nuri birds had been illegally caught over the past two years,
mostly by TNI troops stationed there to quell ethnic and
religious conflicts. When the troops returned home, each carried
a bird with them. "A battalion comprises between 600 and 700
troops. Imagine if each soldier carries one," said the official.
The birds are sold for between Rp 100,000 and Rp 150,000 each.

* On March 14, 2002, Military Police in Jayapura arrested a
first sergeant, dubbed Sertu Ekstasi (first sergeant ecstasy) by
the local press, for drug dealing.

* On March 23, 2002, seven members of the Presidential Guard
kidnapped and then killed Endang Hidayat, the head of Binuangeun
village in Sukamanah, Malingping district, Lebak regency, Banten.
The murder followed the arrest of the father of one of the
suspects for buying stolen motorcycles, allegedly following a
report from Endang.

* On April 30, 2002, 20 members of the Military Police
ransacked the office of a newspaper in South Sulawesi over a
report deemed offensive to their unit.

* On May 16, 2002 a group of around 15 Navy officers forced the
Argobromo train to stop at a station in Tegal, Central Java. They
also damaged a car of the Sembrani train after they failed to get
on board the train, which was not scheduled to stop in Tegal.