'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)