Susilo and the July 27 incident

Susilo and the July 27 incident

From Warta Kota

The July 27, 1996, incident, in which executives and members of the former Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) became victims of an attack on the party's headquarters on Jl. Diponegoro, Jakarta, is a dark episode in Indonesian politics.

After being ignored for several years, families of the victims and a variety of non-governmental organizations have been striving hard to have the matter dealt with transparently.

One of the figures spotlighted in the case is Democratic Party presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was chief of staff of the Jakarta Military Command when the incident occurred.

In a military unit, it is the commander who has the authority to give direct orders to his troops. To be precise, in a military district command it is the commander who issues such orders.

Even if the commander is deemed to be the most responsible person in the July 27 case, the involvement of soldiers under his command has to be proven in court rather than be based purely on prejudice.

To my knowledge, the chief of staff is in charge of internal or administrative affairs in a military district command, so he has no authority to deploy troops. People should therefore avoid making false allegations or politicizing the case.

BAMBANG SUMANTRI Jakarta