Jakarta – At least 147 military personnel from Wirabuana Military Command in Sulawesi have been arrested by the local military police when they were trying to flee from their post in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi province.
Satunet.com portal news reported from Makassar, South Sulawesi province, yesterday that the 147 military personnel had been detained at the provincial South Sulawesi military headquarters in Pakatto. It was reported that Wirabuana military police arrested them when they arrived at Bajoe harbor, Bone district, South Sulawesi, from Kendari with a commercial ship last Friday.
The deserters were among hundreds of other soldiers from Wirabuana military command who recently took part in a military exercise in Kendari prior to their departure to Irian Jaya for the ongoing warfare against the separatists in the restive province. It was reported that they left their post without permission from their commander.
Wirabuana military command (Kodam VII Wirabuana) is responsible for the security situation in Sulawesi Island which consists of four provinces: North, Central, South, and Southeast Sulawesi provinces.
After the arrest, local military police seemed to be trying to cover up the desertion case but finally Wirabuana Police Military Commander Colonel CPM Bambang Wahyudi yesterday confirmed the incident to the press. The news is absolutely correct, but we need to say that this is the internal business of the Wirabuana military command, he said in Makassar.
Meanwhile, the local military command spokesman who wished to remain anonymous said that he had no knowledge about the arrest of the cowardly soldiers who were apparently trying to go home to Java. I just heard the information. I will check it later, he said shortly.
Based on information from an officer at the military command, the 147 deserters come from various military units like airborne, cavalry, combat troops, and artillery. They deserted their post because they are afraid to fight against the Papuans, the officer claimed.
He said that before they left their units illegally, they asked for a holiday from their commander at the beginning of May, but he refused it. In the previous period of military drills in Kendari, at least 105 military personnel got permission from their commander to take a leave for two weeks and they had to return to their post on time.
According to information reported earlier by military sources, next month, hundreds of soldiers from Wirabuana military command, including the 147 deserters will be sent to Irian Jaya for a special operation to fight against the separatist rebels in the province.
Tens of thousands of military personnel have been deployed in several restive provinces like Aceh, Irian Jaya, Kalimantan, and Maluku in order to fight against and subdue local people in the regions and to assist the police to maintain some semblance of security.