Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's former armed forces chief, General Wiranto, has intensified his criticism of attempts to prosecute military officers over last year's violence in East Timor, declaring them innocent and accusing the United Nations of "vulgar fraud".
"I know they are innocent," he said of officers named by the Attorney-General as suspects. "They were my best men, appointed to carry out a difficult mission there. Instead of being rewarded, they are named as suspects. It makes me very sad." General Wiranto's comments, in Tempo magazine, coincide with reports that President Abdurrahman Wahid this week buckled under pressure from anti-reformist factions in the military opposed to the appointment of an outspoken reformist, Lieutenant-General Agus Wirahadikusumah, to a key army post.
Buoyed by their win, anti-reformist generals are moving to discipline General Agus for publicly criticising corruption within the armed forces and making an allegedly unauthorised trip to the United States.
Asked about the deaths of East Timorese and the forced relocation of up to 200,000 people after last year's referendum, General Wiranto said: "The violence that took some victims occurred after the referendum was carried out with vulgar fraud." General Wiranto, whom prosecutors have not named in a list of 23 suspects over the violence, said that morally he had to be responsible for what soldiers did under his command but "legally speaking is another matter".
General Wiranto said: "Institutionally the TNI (armed forces) is innocent. There were some individuals who committed unlawful acts and they have been punished." General Wiranto's comments are likely to fuel moves in the UN for the prosecution of senior officers and pro-Jakarta militia leaders outside the country, possibly in East Timor's newly established courts. UN investigators believe General Wiranto should be held accountable for what happened in East Timor.
General Wiranto dismissed speculation that he has been behind attempts to destabilise Mr Wahid's administration. "My name is in the news every day but there is some rubbish news that does not deserve a response," he told Tempo.
Analysts see Mr Wahid's decision not to appoint General Agus either chief of the army or deputy chief as a devastating blow to his attempts to reform the armed forces.
Adding to Mr Wahid's humiliation, General Endriartono Sutarto, the new army commander, told journalists only moments after being sworn in on Monday that General Agus had violated the officer's code of ethics. General Agus is held in high regard by Mr Wahid but is despised by officers opposed to efforts to push the military out of civilian affairs and crack down on endemic corruption.
Forty-five of the military's most senior officers last week attended a meeting in the West Java city of Bandung where they agreed in a signed letter to oppose Mr Wahid appointing General Agus to any key post. Reports say General Endriartono refused a compromise to appoint General Agus his deputy.