Prabowo discharged from ABRI

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)