Author: Rizqy Ahmad *
The issue of the 1998 kidnapping case which mentioned the name of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto returned to widespread before the 2019 presidential election. In the 2014 presidential election, the same issue was circulating. The Honorary Board (DKP) letter regarding the dismissal of Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto in 1998, was spread on social media.
The issue was even stronger when TNI General (Ret.) Fachrul Razi confirmed the substance of the Officer Honorary Board (DKP) decision letter circulating widely on social media, in an interview on a private television station in 2014. The letter recommended Prabowo be dismissed from the army service. Fachrul was the Deputy Chairperson of the DKP who signed the decree and he also pointed out that Prabowo was not fit to be RI-1, because the track record of the former Kopassus Danjen was in the military.
In the letter it was written that Prabowo deliberately made a mistake in carrying out the task analysis despite knowing that the KSAD as the supervisor was not authorized to give the assignment. Prabowo also carried out operational control in the context of national stability, something that was not his authority, but the authority of the ABRI Commander. These actions were carried out repeatedly such as the involvement of task forces in East Timor and Aceh and the release of hostages in Wamena, Irian Jaya. Then, ordered members of the Rose Task Force and the Merpati Task Force to disclose, arrest, and detain radical group activists and PRD who they knew were not their authority. Prabowo was also called not reporting on operations carried out to the commander and was only reported in early April 1998 after the insistence of the Head of the ABRI Intelligence Agency. In addition, Prabowo is said not to involve organic staff in staff procedures, control and supervision. Prabowo did not carry out his duties and command responsibilities in controlling the actions of the Merpati Task Force and the Rose Task Force. Prabowo also often goes abroad without permission from the Army Chief of Staff or the ABRI Commander. The actions of Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto tended to habitually ignore the operating system, hierarchy, discipline and laws that apply in the ABRI environment. In addition, it does not reflect the ethics of professionalism in decision making, compliance with legal norms, prevailing norms in the life of the nation and state, norms that apply in the Indonesian Armed Forces / Armed Forces and the norms of involving Kopassus itself, as written in the letter.
Prabowo is said not to reflect the commander’s responsibility for duty and for soldiers, does not reflect the ethics of officers, especially the defenders of truth and justice, loyalty, and obedience, humanity, and upholds the name and honor of the ABRI Officer Corps. “These actions are not feasible in the lives of soldiers and the lives of TNI officers. These actions harmed the honor of Kopassus, TNI-AD, ABRI, the nation, and the state, “as stated in the contents of the letter. Initially, this case would be brought to the Military Court, but the collective agreement was finally resolved through the DKP and ended in the dismissal of Prabowo from the TNI unit. Prabowo in the DKP report is sure to know the exact abduction operation carried out by Kopassus members who are members of the Rose Team.
Previously, Prabowo had left his assignment while attending military education in Magelang, Central Java. Prabowo then returned to Jakarta. Not long after, he was escorted back to military school by his father. In the military this is known as desertion (running away from military service). From this incident shows that Prabowo has no maturity of thought, emotional stability and too childish. Not only that, Prabowo continued, he also had a bad record while serving in the army as he tried several times to fight for armed power.
The public must know the substance of why the DKP recommends dismissing Prabowo. The substance of the DKP letter can be a public consideration for choosing the right presidential candidate. This should be our concern, how can a military officer obey the Sapta Marga warriors, but (Prabowo) violates almost all the articles. We know that soldiers must be bound by a unified command hierarchy, respect for human rights, obey the constitution, this is a serious violation committed.
) * FISIP Mulawarman University students
