Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu offered clarification over the reported plan of a non-military institution to import 5,000 firearms that had been mentioned by Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Ryamizard echoed a statement by Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, who said on Sunday that Gatot had been misinformed about the plan by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to purchase 500 weapons from state-owned weapons manufacturer Pindad for "training purposes".

Ryamizard said the Defense Ministry had received the purchase proposal signed by BIN deputy chief Lt. Gen. Teddy Lhaksmana that specifically detailed that the spy agency planned to procure 521 firearms and 72,750 bullet munitions.

He said the purchase plan was in line with prevailing laws, which regulated that the procurement of strategic weapons by relevant state institutions should proceed with the permission of the defense minister.

"Initially, we could not permit [the purchase] because it [BIN] ordered [TNI] standard firearms, but they subsequently changed the order to ones that are non-[TNI] standard  [...] The procurement proposal is clear," Ryamizard said.

"Maybe he [Gatot] has not yet received the report [regarding the purchase] from his assistant [...] Everyone can make mistakes, we just need to ensure that the mistakes will not be repeated," he said.

The minister went on to say that the issue should not be blown up and that relevant institutions, including BIN, the TNI and the National Police, should strengthen communication to prevent similar issues in the future. (ebf)