Ina Parlina and Bambang Muryanto, Jakarta – Diponegoro Military Regional Command chief Maj. Gen. Hardiono Saroso and Yogyakarta Police chief Brig. Gen. Sabar Rahardjo have been removed in the wake of the execution-style murder of police detainees by the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) commandos in Sleman, Yogyakarta, last month.
The Indonesian Military (TNI) announced on Saturday that Hardiono would be replaced by Maj. Gen. Sunindyo, a former member of the Kopassus, who is currently posted as Army Chief of Staff Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo's personal assistant. Hardiono will be posted at the Army's headquarters as a staff member.
The military denied speculation that the rotation was connected to the Sleman killings, saying that the move was normal following a tour of duty. "He was rotated, not dismissed. The decision was based on an evaluation [of his performance]," the Army's spokesman, Brig. Gen. Rukman Ahmad, said as quoted by Antara.
Army investigators announced on Thursday that nine commandos from the Second Special Forces Group (Kopassus) stationed in Surakarta, Central Java, had confessed to launching an unauthorized raid on the Cebongan penitentiary in Sleman. The raid, which has been described as a spontaneous act of revenge, culminated in the execution of four men that had been detained by the police for allegedly killing former Kopassus commando First Sgt. Heru Santoso.
The results of the Army's investigation proved Hardiono wrong when he prematurely claimed that his subordinates were not involved in the prison attack, despite testimonies that pointed to the involvement of Kopassus soldiers.
Only days after he made the statement, the Army chief set up an investigation team to look into the incident, saying that there were indications that members of the military were involved in the incident. The soldiers confessed on the first day of the investigation on March 29, citing esprit de corps as the motive of the brutal attack.
The National Police previously said that Brig. Gen. Haka Astana, the head of the strategic studies bureau at the National Police's human resources division, would replace Sabar, who would fill the post left vacant by Haka.
Critics have called for Sabar's removal on account of his failure to protect the victims, who should have been detained at the Yogyakarta Police's detention center. They were transferred to the Cebongan prison because the police's detention center was under renovation.
The transfer of the detainees to Cebongan prison has triggered speculation that the police knew the Kopassus soldiers were planning the attack. Moreover, a Komnas HAM member was denied entry to the detention center to verify the police's claim.
Sleman Prison chief warden Sukamto Harto had actually planned to return the four detainees to the Yogyakarta Police when he learned that the four detainees were allegedly involved with Heru's murder.
"When I found out that the four detainees were suspected of killing a soldier, I was afraid [there would be an attack]," Sukamto said on Saturday.
He then requested for additional security personnel from the police and a local military command, but was not able to say whether that request had been fulfilled. He said it was not unusual for the police to transfer detainees to the facility.
A defense analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said that the transfer of the detainees was an "unbelievable" coincidence. "There is suspicion that the police and the army had communicated [to talk about the possible attack]. They later used the prison renovation as an excuse to transfer the detainees. In my opinion, this is unbelievable," he said during a discussion in Jakarta on Saturday.
Former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso, who spent 25 years in the Kopassus, said during the same discussion that the Army's supervisors' direct control over their subordinates was a necessity.
"Direct monitoring is a must, although I'd say it is hard to monitor personnel at all times, particularly when they are off-duty."