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The Star
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Indonesian military's security protection for Attorney General's Office draws flak
JAKARTA: The Indonesian Military's (TNI) expanded deployment of personnel to provide security protection for prosecutors nationwide has once again landed the institution in hot water for stoking fears of military intervention in the judicial realm. The military is dispatching its soldiers to guard all prosecutors' offices nationwide in order to ensure smoothness and security for prosecutors in their work following a telegram message signed by TNI chief Gen Agus Subiyanto on May 5. The telegram message instructed the deployment of 30 military personnel for every provincial prosecutor's office and 10 for every district level office. Attorney General's Office (AGO) spokesperson Harli Siregar said on Monday that the security protection shows the TNI's support for the prosecutors and is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dated April 6, 2023, that aims to bolster cooperation between the two institutions. The military dispatch has alerted human rights activists who see it as a hint toward the military's growing presence in the civil sector during the administration of President Prabowo Subianto, particularly after the recent controversial amendment to the TNI Law. 'This kind of deployment further strengthens the military's intervention in the civilian sphere, especially in the law enforcement area,' a coalition of 20 rights groups, including the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said in a statement on Sunday (May 11). The coalition called on the military to revoke the letter of deployment, as it warned that the military's defense duties could degrade the independence of Indonesia's law. Usman Hamid, executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, said the order violates the Constitution and a number of laws, including the law governing the AGO and the TNI Law itself, which was revised in March despite public protest against provisions many believe pave the way for TNI's expansion into civilian roles. Army spokesperson Wahyu rebuked the claim, saying that the TNI law stipulates that the AGO is among the state institutions that active military personnel can be assigned to. But Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS) cofounder Khairul Fahmi said that the provision applies only to those who work at the office of the assistant attorney general for intelligence (Jampidmil). 'The law simply cannot be used as a basis for troop deployment,' Khairul said. Usman of Amnesty noted that this deployment order 'further strengthens public suspicion that the TNI will return to its dwifungsi [dual function] following the amendment to the TNI law', referring to the military rule of the New Order authoritarian regime under late president Suharto which led to dozens of human rights violations. The last time the military deployed its personnel to guard the AGO headquarters in Jakarta was in May of last year following an alleged attempt by members of the National Police's anti-terror unit Densus 88 to spy on the agency's top prosecutors. The latest dispatch, however, was not based on any 'special needs', Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Wahyu Yudhayana said. 'This is only part of a routine and preventive security cooperation, as has been done previously,' Wahyu said on Monday, adding that the military will continue to be professional in carrying out their tasks. Harli of the AGO stopped short of revealing whether the AGO requested the military dispatch or not but said his office had 'no certain urgency to do so', Rizal Darma Putra, executive director of the Indonesia Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies (Lesperssi), warned that the military could set a bad precedent if it put its troops at the AGO under no special circumstances. 'If the AGO is not facing a combatant threat, maintaining its security is certainly not the military's task. If the TNI cannot explain the urgency of ordering the dispatch, this could pave the way for more troop deployment in civilian affairs in the future,' Rizal said. Harli of the AGO dismissed the concerns about intervention, describing the security protection offered by the TNI as 'a collaborative effort' between the two institutions. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
The Star
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Politics creep into Indonesia's military ranks
JAKARTA: A recent attempt to reshuffle top Indonesian Military (TNI) officers, which was followed almost immediately by its reversal, has raised fresh concerns over growing political interference in the armed forces. The episode unfolded shortly after a group of retired generals publicly called for the removal of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, fueling questions about constitutional boundaries between civil and military authority. The aborted reshuffle marks the latest chapter in the military's renewed prominence in political discourse, as the administration of Prabowo Subianto pushes to expand the TNI's role in civilian life, most notably through the recent controversial amendment to the TNI Law. Last week, TNI commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto issued a decree reassigning some 200 high-ranking officers, including First Joint Regional Defense Command (Pangkogabwilhan I) chief Lt. Gen. Kunto Arief Wibowo, who was moved to a less strategic post at TNI headquarters with no operational command. The reshuffle came after Kunto's father, former vice president Try Sutrisno, who is himself a retired Army general, backed calls from the group of retired generals under the banner 'Retired TNI Soldiers Forum' demanding the removal of Gibran, the son of former president Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. This provoked questions about political motives, with some observers viewing it as a political retaliation against the demands of the group of retirees, which TNI spokesperson Brig. Gen. Kristomei Sianturi has denied. However, a day after the announcement, the TNI chief walked back part of the personnel shake-up and issued a new decree that revoked the transfers of Kunto and six other senior officers, raising speculations about Prabowo's interference. Increasing the political temperature, another group of military retirees publicly pledged their full support for the current government and emphasised that they represented the official organisation for military retirees, in what appeared to be a rebuttal to the first group of former officers. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, a former general known to be a loyal senior minister of Jokowi during his decade in power, has also slammed the calls for Gibran's removal, reported. Security observer Al Araf of think tank Centra Initiative raised concerns about 'deepening civilian interference' in the internal affairs of the armed forces, warning that the country is drifting away from healthy civil-military relations. 'The current situation clearly shows the presence of 'subjective civilian control',' Al Araf told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday (May 7). 'This is a form of politicisation, where civilian authorities, including the President, and figures with lingering influence from previous administrations are overstepping their constitutional limits.' 'This type of interference undermines military professionalism and threatens institutional autonomy,' he said. 'It's a dangerous pattern that weakens the structure of the TNI and sets a bad precedent for democratic governance.' He pointed to an entrenched pattern of politicisation in the armed forces dating back to Jokowi's decade of presidency, where 'the placement of top commanders, like three- and two-star generals' was determined based on personal or political proximity rather than merit, a trend which has continued in the current administration. This contrasts with past administrations, from former president Sukarno to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, where officer rotations were more aligned with their career achievements. During those eras, key appointments typically favored graduates with top honors, such as recipients of the prestigious Adhi Makayasa award. Jaleswari Pramodhawardhani of think tank Laboratorium Indonesia 2045 (LAB 45) said the cancellation of a previously announced military transfer 'was not an isolated incident', adding that it reflects 'deeper dynamics in the power configuration of Indonesia'. While she cautioned that there needs to be more transparent information about the reasons behind the abortive reshuffle to draw definitive conclusions about the presence of political interference, she said 'the possibility of political calculations influencing the decision, whether from actors within the military or from external political forces, cannot be ruled out'. Jaleswari emphasised the need to maintain a clear separation between politics and the internal management of the military, adding that 'TNI's professionalism hinges on its ability to make decisions grounded in strategic and doctrinal reasoning, not political preference.' State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi and the TNI's Kristomei did not respond when asked by the Post about Prabowo's possible involvement in the reversal of Kunto's reassignment. But Luhut denied any suggestion that the President had rebuked Agus for Kunto's reassignment, Antara reported. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
