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Police arrest alleged funder of plot to assassinate four top officials

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Jakarta Globe - June 12, 2019

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Police believe they have arrested the prime suspects in the alleged plot to assassinate four senior government officials and the head of a polling agency, officials said during a press conference at the offices of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs in Jakarta on Tuesday.

They also revealed, for the first time, the name of the head of the polling agency who was targeted for assassination. Police said it was Yunarto Wijaya, executive director of Charta Politika.

The four senior government officials who were targeted were previously identified as Chief Security Minister Wiranto, Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Budi Gunawan and presidential aide Gories Mere.

Police have separated the suspects into two groups. Included in the first group, who were all arrested before May 21, are Sunarko, a former commander of the Army's Special Forces Command (Kopassus), H.R., alias Heryansyah, B., alias Beni, and Z. They are all linked to the illegal possession of a firearm.

Suspects B. and Z. are active members of the Indonesian Military (TNI). This means they are detained by the Military Police and will be prosecuted separately, under military law.

First group

Chief Comr. Daddy Hartadi, head of the National Police's general crimes unit, said the initial investigation was launched based on information provided by the TNI on May 18 about the suspected involvement of military personnel in the alleged smuggling of an illegal firearm from Aceh to Jakarta.

"On May 15, members of BAIS [the TNI's Strategic Intelligence Agency] arrested Z. at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport while receiving the weapon without legal documents," Daddy said in Jakarta.

"The weapon belonged to S. [Sunarko], who seized it from the GAM [Aceh Independence Movement] during military operations, and ownership of the weapon had been illegal since Sept. 1, 2011, when he retired," Daddy said.

According to the suspects, Heryansyah, who serves as Sunarko's personal driver and assistant in Aceh, was tasked with the safekeeping of the United States-made M16 military rifle.

In early April, shortly before this year's simultaneous presidential and legislative elections, Sunarko allegedly asked Heryansyah to send the weapon to Jakarta.

Heryansyah in turn contacted Beni to obtain a security clearance for the consignment. Beni issued a false security clearance and helped to find a military officer to take the firearm on board an aircraft and bring it to Jakarta.

The officer, identified as Lt. Col. S.A., who is a witness in the case, carried the firearm on board a flight operated by national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia from Aceh to Jakarta on May 15. Upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, he handed the weapon over to suspect Z., who was then arrested by members of BAIS.

Based on this information, police arrested Sunarko, who according to Daddy, admitted to owning the weapon. Sunarko is currently held at the detention barracks of the Military Police in South Jakarta.

All the civilian suspects are charged with the illegal possession of a firearm under the 1951 Law on Emergency.

Second group

The second group comprises eight suspects – H.K., alias Iwan, alias Haji Kurniawan; A.Z., alias Armi; I.R., alias Irfansyah; T.J., alias Tajudin; A.D.; A.F., alias Fifi; K.Z., alias Kivlan Zen; and H.M.

Members of this group are implicated in the alleged assassination plot and are being detained for conspiring to commit murder and the attempted unlawful possession of a firearm, said Adjutant Chief Comr. Ade Ary Syam Indradi, head of the Jakarta Police's criminal investigation unit.

During Tuesday's press conference, police presented video recordings of several of the suspects' testimonies in which they explain their respective roles in the alleged plot.

Police arrested suspect Iwan in Cikini, Central Jakarta, on May 21 and seized a firearm from him.

"In March, Udin [Tajudin] and I were summoned to Kelapa Gading [in North Jakarta] by Mr. [Kivlan]. I was given Rp 150 million [$10,500] to purchase two handguns and two rifles. The money was in Singapore dollars... I was arrested with a weapon in my possession," Iwan says in his videotaped testimony.

Iwan said he joined the rally outside the offices of the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) and carried a firearm to protect his men protesting the result of the presidential election, which showed a win for the incumbent, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

He said the May 21 rally was only an initial action, which resulted in clashes between police and rioters that continued until the following day.

Iwan said he rented one of the firearms for Rp 50 million from suspect Fifi. He also handed two firearms to suspect Armi – who acted as Kivlan's personal bodyguard and adjutant – and another to suspect Tajudin.

"The message from Mr. Kivlan was that my targets were Wiranto and Luhut," Iwan said.

Tajudin told police investigators that he had met with Kivlan, who handed him photos and the addresses of his assassination targets.

"I received an order from Maj. Gen. Kivlan Zen, through Haji Kurniawan, to carry out the assassinations. I received Rp 55 million from Mr. Kivlan via Haji Kurniawan," Tajudin says in a separate video.

Meanwhile, suspect Irfansyah said Armi arranged for him to meet with Kivlan near a mosque in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, three days after the April 17 elections. He was accompanied by one Yusuf, who is still at large, during the alleged meeting with Kivlan and Armi.

He said during the meeting, which took place inside Kivlan's car, the retired Army general showed him a picture of Yunarto, the head of pollster Charta Politica. Irfansyah further alleges that he was given Yunarto's home address in South Jakarta.

"Observe this address and take some photos... I will give you Rp 5 million for operational and transportation funds," Irfansyah quotes Kivlan as saying in a separate video shown by police investigators.

Irfansyah and Yusuf visited the location of Yunarto's home twice and sent proof to Kivlan through his aide, Armi.

Police earlier said the six suspects were arrested in several locations in Jakarta, West Java and Banten on May 21 and 24.

The Jakarta Police's Adjutant Chief Comr. Ade said information investigators gathered from the six suspects led to the arrests of Kivlan and H.M.

"K.Z. [Kivlan] was arrested at the offices of the Criminal Investigation Agency on May 29. His role was ordering H.K. and A.Z. to hire assassins. His other role was providing H.K. with Rp 150 million to purchase four firearms... K.Z. ordered H.K. to find more weapons. He provided information about targets and gave Rp 5 million to I.R. to observe one of the targets," Ade said.

Kivlan is being detained by the Military Police in South Jakarta.

"H.M. was arrested at his residence [in South Jakarta] on May 29. His role was to fund the operation. The money K.Z. gave the other suspects came from H.M.," Ade said.

H.M. also directly handed Rp 60 million to H.K. to buy more weapons and for use as operational funds. Police have seized an undisclosed amount from two bank accounts belonging to H.M. His identity has not been revealed.

In an investigative report, Tempo magazine identifies H.M. as Habil Marati, a supporter of losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto. He is a politician of the United Development Party (PPP), which is part of the coalition that supported Jokowi in this year's presidential election. Habil was a legislative candidate in the 2019 election.

Tim Mawar

The media also exposed the involvement of the so-called "Tim Mawar" (Rose Team), comprised of members of Kopassus who were involved in violently suppressing the May 1998 riots in Jakarta that toppled the authoritarian regime of President Suharto.

Prabowo established the team while he was the commander of Kopassus. He was later dismissed from the military for his involvement in gross human rights violations.

Tempo also reported that Fauka Noor Farid, a former member of Tim Mawar, was involved in last month's riots in Jakarta.

"I cannot answer it yet," TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sisriadi said at the press conference in response to a question about Tim Mawar's involvement in the recent riots.

"We will follow up on this information and the indications," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Muhammad Iqbal said about the allegations contained in the Tempo report.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/context/police-arrest-alleged-funder-of-plot-to-assassinate-four-top-officials

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