Probe into Sukarno decree furor starts

Probe into Sukarno decree furor starts

JAKARTA (JP): The National Police launched on Tuesday an
unprecedented investigation into the March 11, 1966 document
which effectively transferred power from founding president
Sukarno to then Army minister Soeharto.

The investigation of the document -- known by the acronym
Supersemar and currently at the center of a furor over its
origins -- is being conducted simultaneously here and in
Yogyakarta.

Investigators at the National Police headquarters have
questioned Gen. (ret) M. Jusuf, the sole survivor of the three
generals sent by Soeharto to receive the letter from Sukarno at
the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java. Yogyakarta police
have questioned Second Lt. (ret) Soekardjo Wilardjito, a former
security guard at the palace who claims to have witnessed the
signing.

"We questioned Pak Jusuf this morning. We'll question Pak
Panggabean on Thursday," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen.
Togar M. Sianipar told reporters in Jakarta.

He was referring to former Army deputy chief of staff Gen.
(ret) Maraden Panggabean. Soekardjo alleges Panggabean was at the
palace on the night and intimidated Sukarno into signing the
document at gunpoint as the three other generals looked on.

Sources at the National Police headquarters said Jusuf's
questioning was held at his residence in Menteng, Central
Jakarta.

Three police detectives -- Col. Edi Darnadi, chief of the
Jakarta Police Detective Unit, his deputy Lt. Col. K. Lubis and a
staff member -- have been assigned to the investigation.

Yogyakarta police investigators questioned Soekardjo on
Tuesday.

"Pak Soekardjo Wilardjito was questioned over his allegations
that Pak Panggabean pointed his gun at Sukarno while the first
president was about to sign the letter," Chief of Yogyakarta
Police Detectives Unit Lt. Col. Erwin T.P.L. Tobing told
reporters.

Sianipar said police investigators were trying to ascertain if
Soekardjo was guilty of violating Article 171 of the Criminal
Code on making false reports, which carries a maximum two-year
jail sentence.

Apart from Jusuf, the two other generals at the signing were
Amir Machmud, then a brigadier general who was also the Jakarta
military commander, and the late Basuki Rachmat, then an Army
major general. Both are deceased.

Like Soeharto, the three generals were Sukarno's ministers.
Soeharto was also the chief of the Army Strategic Reserves
Command (Kostrad).

Panggabean has denied Soekardjo's allegation and branded the
former security guard a liar.

"I was resting at the Army headquarters the whole day. How
could he say that I was at the Bogor presidential palace?"
Panggabean said.

Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung said last week that
the government would interview personalities who were close to
the creation of the historic letter, including Jusuf and
Soeharto. (emf/yun/44/imn)