Mrs. Suprapto okays detainees' release

JAKARTA (JP): The widow of Suprapto, one of the six generals slain during a communist-backed coup attempt 30 years ago, said yesterday that she supported the government's decision to release three prisoners, who were convicted for the 1965 abortive coup.

"I give thanks to God for their release, they have been separated from their families for too long," Mrs. Yulie Suprapto, told The Jakarta Post.

She expressed no animosity whatsoever towards the three -- Soebandrio, Omar Dhani and Raden Soegeng Soetarto -- saying that she had accepted God's will and His judgment for what had happened.

The government announced last week that President Soeharto has given clemency to the three men chiefly on humanitarian ground. The three men -- who saw their life imprisonment term commuted to freedom -- are in their 70s and 80s and in failing health.

They will walk free on Aug. 16, after nearly 30 years of incarceration.

Asked what she would do if she were to come face to face with them now, Yulie said she would not treat them indifferently.

"Just act normally, what else am I supposed to do," the 66- year-old widow said.

Lt. Gen. Suprapto was one of the six generals abducted from their Jakarta homes on the night of Sept. 30, 1965, or the early hours of Oct. 1. Some were slain in front of their wives and children and others tortured to death at Lubang Buaya in East Jakarta. An Army officer was also among those abducted and slain that day.

Suprapto, who at the time was the Army's deputy chief administrator, has since then, together with the other six officers, been given the title revolutionary hero.

Living modestly in the same Central Jakarta house from which her husband was abducted, Yulie said she has never met Soebandrio, or the others while they were in prison.

She said that she knows Soebandrio's current wife, who is a very distant relative, but has not met the families of the other political prisoners.

"I came across Ibu (Mrs) Omar Dhani once at the market, but she did not approach me. Maybe she was embarrassed," Yulie said.

Yulie was married to Suprapto on May 4, 1946, and was blessed with five children, who have now given her 10 grandchildren.

Still in good health, Yulie is now confined to a wheel chair because of a bad fall some months ago. She said she now has to visit the hospital several times a week for physiotherapy and treatment for her rheumatism.

Memory

Though she claims that her memory is beginning to fail her, Yulie says she can still vividly remember the events of that fateful night.

"Of course I remember. It was such a cruel thing, what they did," she said, yet maintaining that she held no resentment.

"Who knows who was involved in this, or who did that," she said of the other political prisoners, hinting that maybe it was best for her not to know.

Despite her sympathetic poise, the name of A. Latief seemed to spark immediate ire. "Latief was directly active at Lubang Buaya, he participated in the events there," Yulie remarked.

A. Latief, now 70, was an army colonel of the Infantry Brigade at the Jakarta Military Command and has been often cited as one of the perpetrators of the attempted coup.

"It's different for those who were actively involved," Yulie said.

Latief applied for clemency from President Soeharto at the same time as Soebandrio. There was no news whether the request has been turned down, or is still under consideration. (mds)