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)