Soleman Ponto Describes Military Judiciary as Having a Harsh Character

The Head of the TNI’s Strategic Intelligence Agency (Kabais) for the 2011-2013 period, Retired Rear Admiral Soleman B Ponto, stated that the harsh character of the military judiciary is a logical consequence of the demands for discipline and combat readiness among soldiers. According to him, the military judiciary cannot be understood solely through the lens of civil law. Soleman explained that the military legal system is built upon the extreme realities of operations, where soldiers face kill-or-be-killed situations. “In such conditions, there is no room for errors, no tolerance for disobedience, and no time for debate. Everything must be quick, precise, and obedient,” he said during a discussion titled “Is the Military Judiciary Cruel?” in East Jakarta on Thursday (23/4/2026). Soleman noted that discipline in the military is not merely an ethical norm but the primary instrument for maintaining troop readiness (combat readiness). “Therefore, the military judiciary system is designed not only to uphold justice but also to preserve command stability and unit effectiveness in the field,” Soleman clarified. He also highlighted the ongoing material review of several articles in Law Number 31 of 1997 on the Military Judiciary, particularly Article 9, Article 43 paragraph (3), and Article 127. Soleman warned that changes or deletions to these articles could pose serious risks to the law enforcement system within the military. “If the existing mechanisms in the military judiciary are weakened without clear alternatives, it could lead to de facto impunity. That is, violations are not prosecuted not because they are protected by law, but because the system is unable to process cases to completion,” said the former Indonesian defence attaché in the Netherlands.