Prabowo discharged from ABRI

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) honorably discharged Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto yesterday and removed two senior Army Special Force (Kopassus) officers from active duty as punishment for their role in the abductions and torture of political activists.

The Armed Forces also announced Prabowo, a son-in-law of former president Soeharto, was entitled to his pension, but said he could face a military tribunal in the future if more damning evidence of his involvement in the kidnappings is found.

The decision, issued on the recommendation of the Officers Honor Council probing the abductions, was announced by Minister of Defense and Security/ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto before dozens of local and foreign journalists at the Armed Forces' Merdeka Barat headquarters in Central Jakarta.

"My decision regarding Lt. Gen. Prabowo is to end his active service with the Armed Forces," Wiranto said.

"Prabowo is not included in any ABRI structures anymore. He is a civilian now."

Prabowo, a 1974 graduate of the Armed Forces Academy, was considered one of the military's rising stars. He was the first among his classmates to obtain the rank of a three-star general just 24 years into his career.

Many charged his ascent could not be divorced from his links to Soeharto. Prabowo, 47, is married to Soeharto's second daughter, Siti Hediati.

Wiranto said ABRI had also decided to release the other two officers investigated along with Prabowo -- former Kopassus commandant-general Maj. Gen. Muchdi Purwopranjono and former Kopassus chief of intelligence operations Col. Chairawan -- from "all structural duties".

"Both Muchdi and Chairawan will remain in the Armed Forces, but will not get any rank promotions nor be given any positions until they reach their mandatory age of retirement."

Wiranto did not discount the possibility of bringing the three before a military tribunal.

"If the prosecution for the other 10 Kopassus officers later finds out that Prabowo, Muchdi and Chairawan were clearly involved in the abductions and torture of the activists, they could also be charged with crimes before the court-martial," he said.

"We have to respect the principle of presumption of innocence. Everything will be uncovered in court, including the officers who gave orders to the 10 Kopassus officers."

He did not mention when the tribunal for the 10 officers would start, but indicated that the dossiers were being completed by the military's fact-finding team. It is led by the National Military Police Corps Chief Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal.

Wiranto dismissed speculation the Armed Forces headquarters was under pressure to make the decision.

"One thing for sure is that the decision was made in the interest of ABRI, and the nation and the country that we all love very much."

Wiranto said the three officers' meritorious service in the past was also part of the Armed Forces' consideration.

Chief of the seven-member Honor Council, Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo, supported Wiranto's decision and said it was in accordance with the council's recommendation.

"Should you have any evidence (disproving the decision), you could tell the ABRI's fact-finding team about it," he told reporters.

But the statement contradicted his Aug. 14 remarks that the council would recommend Prabowo be court-martialled. There was no official explanation on the inconsistency.

Subagyo, who is also the Army's chief of staff, dismissed speculation that ABRI had no evidence to court-martial Prabowo.

"Let's just wait for the opening of the court-martial (of the officers)," he said.

A member of the Honor Council, Lt. Gen. Agum Gumelar, said the council did not recommend criminal sanctions against the three officers because they would have to include considerations based on technical aspects of the abductions.

"We did not talk about technical aspects of the abductions as they were completely the Armed Forces' internal affairs," Agum, who is also governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas), told reporters after the media conference.

Discussing the 14 activists reportedly still missing, Agum said their whereabouts remained unknown.

"Prabowo only admitted to the kidnappings of the nine activists, who had returned home."

He denied reports Prabowo could not be tried before a military tribunal under his new civilian status.

"No, Prabowo could still be court-martialled," he said. (imn)