Military Chief Asked to Investigate Wiranto

Jakarta (Antara) - The Indonesian military (TNI) should investigate former defense minister/military chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto for leaking the document of the Military Officer's Honorary Council (DKP), former information minister Lt. Gen. (ret) Yunus Yosfiah said. "I hope the TNI chief and the Army chief of staff will investigate whether what he (Wiranto) said has violated military rule as a prerequisite to refer the case to the military court," he said here on Friday. The document detailed the reasons behind the dismissal of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto from military service on August 21, 1998. Yosfiah noted that it was Wiranto in his capacity as then defense minister/military chief who proposed the honorable dismissal of Prabowo through a letter number R/811/P03/15/38 dated November 18, 1998. "The capital R referred to in the letter means state secret," he said. The then president later issued a decree number 62/ABRI/1998 dated November 20, 1998, stating that Prabowo had been honorably dismissed from the military as of November 1998. Under the decree, Prabowo was entitled to receive pension. It was Wiranto who proposed the honorary dismissal of Prabowo, Yosfiah said, adding that under the standing procedure, the president issued the decree based on the proposal from the then military chief. He expressed regret over the statement of Wiranto, which came after the General Elections Commission (KPU) approved Prabowo's presidential candidacy. "Why was the issue not raised in 2004 when Prabowo took part in the Golkar Party's presidential convention and 2009 when he was the running mate of presidential candidate Megawati?," he asked. (*) Reported by Riza Fahriza