'Supersemar' witness breaks silence over new assertions
'Supersemar' witness breaks silence over new assertions
JAKARTA (JP): Former Armed Forces (ABRI) chief Gen. (ret) M.
Jusuf has broken his silence on circumstances surrounding the
signing of the controversial document which effectively
transferred power from founding president Sukarno to Soeharto 32
years ago.
Jusuf, 70, who is reportedly the sole surviving witness to
Sukarno's signing of the document -- known by the acronym
"Supersemar" for the date March 11, 1966 -- attested on Friday to
the historical version of events and denied a recent account by
former Sukarno guard Soekardjo Wilardjito.
The document's whereabouts are unknown.
Jusuf said he was accompanied by Maj. Gen. Basuki Rachmat and
Maj. Gen. Amirmachmud, both of whom are deceased, to the Bogor
Presidential Palace to meet Sukarno. All three held ministerial
status.
Second Lt. (ret) Soekardjo Wilardjito, 71, claimed in
Yogyakarta recently that he attended the fateful meeting in his
capacity as Sukarno's adjutant. In a startling revelation, he
said he saw Gen. (ret) Maraden Panggabean at the meeting.
He alleged that Panggabean, then the army deputy minister,
pointed a gun at Sukarno to intimidate him into signing the
prepared letter.
"It's not true that Maj. Gen. Basuki Rachmat or any of the
three of carried a gun when meeting with President Sukarno,"
Jusuf was reported as saying by Antara news agency.
"Maraden Panggabean did not follow or go with us to the Bogor
Palace."
Panggabean, 76, has also denied Soekardjo's account and
branded him a liar.
Jusuf, also a former defense minister during the Soeharto
presidency, denied he carried the prepared document or that
Sukarno was coerced to follow their orders.
The document instructed then army minister Soeharto to restore
order in chaotic Jakarta following an aborted communist coup on
Sept. 30, 1965.
Some historians have speculated that the fateful directive
served as "a disguised coup" by the army against Sukarno's rule,
citing how the document has "conveniently" disappeared from
national archives.
Jusuf denied any knowledge of the document's whereabouts.
"I don't know. My duty was finished when we returned to
Jakarta and handed it over to Soeharto," he said.
He said the three generals left the palace at 8:30 p.m. on the
night of the signing, not at 1 a.m. on March 12 as Soekardjo
claimed.
Jusuf said he was subsequently assigned to become a minister
of industry, which he described as a "very busy" job.
He hoped his explanation would put an end to the controversy
surrounding how the document came into being.
"I am speaking honestly here, like I have always done since I
was minister of industry, minister of defense and chairman of the
Supreme Audit Agency," he said. (aan)