Retired generals protest eviction

JAKARTA: At least 18 retired Army generals sought on Monday legal protection after alleging they were being intimidated by the Army, which wishes to evict them from an Army housing complex on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta.

"The Army no longer respects its own sons. Such use of terror tactics is a violation of human rights," spokesman for the retired generals Brig. Gen. (ret) Ben Mboi told a media conference at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) office.

Mboi, a former governor of East Nusa Tenggara, said the acts of terror and intimidation included the placement of a bulldozer in front of the generals' houses, preventing garbage trucks from picking up trash from the houses and destruction of letters and parcels sent to them.

He said the retired generals, who had lived there for almost 30 years based upon a written order from the Army chief of staff, would not resist an order to leave their houses if it were signed by the Army chief.

The eviction order was signed by Army detachment commander Col. Endang Supriadi. It gives them until the end of April to move out. --JP