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Enough evidence to bring Prabowo to justice: Syamsu Djalal
Former Military Police commander Maj
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F
ormer Military Police commander Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsu Djalal says his institution has enough evidence to try Prabowo Subianto in the Military Court for his alleged involvement in the kidnappings and disappearance of pro-democracy activists in 1998.
'There is sufficient evidence. It is for the court to decide whether he is guilty or not,' Syamsu said on Wednesday, as quoted by tempo.co.
Syamsu was speaking at an event to celebrate the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICCPED) held by the Families of Missing Persons Association (IKOHI) at Gedong Juang 45, Jakarta.
Syamsu said the Military Police had tried members of the 'Rose Team', a unit within the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) allegedly responsible for the kidnapping of activists in 1998. The court handed down sentences to a number of team members proven guilty following an investigation based on testimonies from the kidnapped victims.
Syamsu said as a commander who formed the Rose Team, Prabowo should have been brought to justice.
'It is clear that the commander [who assigned the Rose Team] was Prabowo Subianto, not Hermawan,' he said.
Syamsu has in previous statements said that Prabowo should have been tried at the Military Court as the mastermind behind the kidnappings because it was unjust if only some military personnel faced criminal proceedings while Prabowo, as the Army's Special Forces commander, was only brought before the Officers Ethics Council (DKP).
The DKP was created by former Indonesian Military commander Gen. Wiranto.
One of the council members, Agum Gumelar, appointed Syamsu, who was then a Military Police commander, to investigate the case. The investigation affirmed Prabowo's involvement in the kidnapping of the activists.
In its decision letter, the DKP said Prabowo was proven guilty of having committed 'deprivation of freedom' and kidnapping. (fss/ebf)
