Wiranto and intelligence

Wiranto and intelligence

Gen. (ret) Wiranto, Adi Sasono, Fuad Bawazier and Eros Djarot
have been accused of being behind the recent student
demonstrations. However, it is not easy to judge the validity of
the State Intelligence Body (BIN)'s report on this, which it
unveiled during a hearing with the House of Representatives last
week.

Wiranto, former coordinating minister for political and
security affairs, has denied the accusation.

The four men do have a different political stance from that of
the government. And being critical and helping student
demonstrations is not against the law. Things become serious if
these activities are translated as an effort to topple the
government. BIN also reported about the students' plan to
escalate their demonstrations, which is feared would lead to
chaos.

Intelligence agencies should not be used to help the
government stay in power and protect it from attack by its
(political) rivals. Intelligence reports such as the one from BIN
are dangerous and damaging to the reputation of the "accused".

Wiranto has said that the report (on him) was completely false
and character assassination. Wiranto and the other three
"accused" should channel their denials to House Commission I
during a special hearing.

Apart from the accusations in the intelligence report, Wiranto
is a controversial figure linked (directly or indirectly) to a
series of violent incidents. This includes the violence in East
Timor following the independence referendum there, for which he
should be held responsible.

-- Koran Tempo, Jakarta