Kopassus Denies Rumours of Commander Slapping Palace Protocol Officer

The Special Forces Command (Kopassus) has dismissed information circulating that claimed Kopassus Commander Lieutenant General Djon Afriandi slapped a palace protocol officer during a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto. This denial was announced by Kopassus Public Relations through the Instagram account @penkopassus on Tuesday, 21 April 2026.

In the post, Kopassus Public Relations included a screenshot of the content spreading the information. The image was also labelled as a hoax and fake news. “Be wary, a false rumour is circulating that drags the names of TNI high-ranking officials and the palace environment; this narrative claims there was a commotion between the Kopassus Commander and the protocol side,” stated the Instagram account @penkopassus.

According to Kopassus Public Relations, the information was deliberately spread by certain parties to divide the nation. Kopassus Public Relations also claimed there is no valid evidence supporting the issue. “In fact, this is just a fabrication without valid evidence; this information is intentionally spread to create unrest and divide the internal solidarity of state institutions,” said Kopassus Public Relations.

Previously, the rumour claiming Kopassus Commander Djon Afriandi slapped a palace protocol officer went viral on social media. This information was first posted by the Threads account @retailman69 on Monday, 20 April 2026.

In that post, the account revealed that the incident occurred when Djon was asked to meet President Prabowo Subianto at the State Palace some time ago. The meeting was scheduled to last 30 minutes. According to the information, Djon had actually arrived at the palace according to the determined schedule. However, Djon was asked to wait outside the room until 20 minutes of the meeting schedule had elapsed. Prabowo, who had been waiting a long time, then reprimanded him for not showing up, which led to Djon’s anger towards the palace protocol officer. Currently, the post has been deleted and the Threads account has disappeared. However, the narrative has already spread widely on social media.