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On Tue, Apr 16, 2019 at 4:57 AM Sunny ambon [email protected] [nasional-list] <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > https://www.allannairn.org/2019/04/breaking-news-prabowo-strategy-session..html > > > > > > News and Comment <https://www.allannairn.org/> > > MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2019 > Breaking News: Prabowo strategy session planned mass arrests of political > opponents, Islamist allies; behind-the-scenes effort to please US includes > Prabowo order to kill lawsuit v Freeport-McMoRan, pledge to "crush" FPI, > HTI, PKS; SBY's Demokrats also targeted; plan to return Army to "New Order" > role > <https://www.allannairn.org/2019/04/breaking-news-prabowo-strategy-session.html> > > > <https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H8IkKjo7JsU/XLApGua8YiI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/fHP1pkVodDkA25UNRWhzjMFw_HfZ1TWzgCEwYBhgL/s1600/NOTULENSI%2BRAPAT%2BTERTUTUP%2BPRABOWO%2BSUBIANTO%2BDAN%2BTIM.jpg> > April 15, 2019 > > By Allan Nairn > Jakarta > > > Prabowo Subianto, a retired general now seeking the presidency of > Indonesia, has made plans to stage mass arrests of political opponents and > his current allies. > > According to minutes of a strategy session he held with fellow generals > and others last December, Prabowo — a longtime US > <https://www.allannairn.org/search?q=fair-haired> protege > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/07/prabowo-bagian-2-saya-anak-kesayangan..html> > who > has been implicated in mass killing, > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/06/news-do-i-have-guts-prabowo-asked-am-i.html> > abduction, and torture > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/06/apa-saya-cukup-punya-nyali-tanya.html>, > has also made plans to restore Indonesia’s army to the role it played in > the Suharto dictatorship. > > [For full scrollable text of Minutes see link > <https://www.scribd.com/document/406301220/Notulensi-Rapat-Tertutup-Prabowo-Subianto-Dan-Tim>, > and bottom of this piece] > > At the meeting, held last December 21 at a Prabowo home in Kebayoran Baru, > Jakarta, he and his team made specific assignments for "putting on trial as > many political opponents as possible," but also for "crippling" the > Islamist groups that now propel his campaign, after he assumes the > presidency. > > > <https://4..bp.blogspot.com/-ecWjYBadIMQ/XLAo-Bs1NCI/AAAAAAAAAnI/QZ0h-MLxEZM1-fSj5FcieU41_z_Wqw0TgCEwYBhgL/s1600/NOTULENSI%2BRAPAT%2BTERTUTUP%2BPRABOWO%2BSUBIANTO%2BDAN%2BTIM%2B2.jpg>Prabowo, > who once mused to me about seizing power > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/06/news-do-i-have-guts-prabowo-asked-am-i.html>and > "be[ing] called a fascist dictator > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/07/prabowo-bagian-2-saya-anak-kesayangan..html>," > is apparently, according to the Minutes, preparing his own political night > of the long knives, in part to consolidate power in his own hands but also > to curry favor with Washington. > > The general has publicly campaigned against what he calls "foreign > lackeys" ("antek asing"), but the Minutes indicate that privately he has > pledged to "collaborate with the United States" by "arrest(ing) the radical > clerics" and other "foot soldiers" of his current campaign. > > Likewise, though a major attack point of his campaign has been the > extraction of national wealth by foreigners, behind-the-scenes Prabowo has > intervened -- his party's vice chair tells me -- in favor of the main > extractor of that wealth, the US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan. > > --- > > > <https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dbZY4KBLupo/XLAox3OXcdI/AAAAAAAAAnA/SIdHi0GibeYY_BTsZbkTox1y-cWTGy_JwCEwYBhgL/s1600/NOTULENSI%2BRAPAT%2BTERTUTUP%2BPRABOWO%2BSUBIANTO%2BDAN%2BTIM%2B3.jpg>Freeport, > which strip-mines gold and copper in de-facto-occupied West Papua, has > repeatedly been caught paying-off officials and army units like Prabowo's > Kopassus, and has inflicted environmental damage of an estimated thirteen > billion US dollars, according to Indonesia's national audit agency (Badan > Pemeriksa Keuangan). > > A global operation, it has in recent years been controlled by Trump > friend, Carl Icahn > <https://theintercept.com/2017/04/18/trumps-indonesian-allies-in-bed-with-isis-backed-militia-seeking-to-oust-elected-president/> > . > > Prabowo's opponent, the civilian incumbent, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) > has recently -- over US objections -- partially nationalized Freeport > Indonesia. > > But Prabowo has nonetheless attacked Jokowi for being soft on foreigners, > and has repeatedly told his cheering crowds "The Motherland is being raped" > ("Ibu Pertiwi sedang diperkosa"). > > > <https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MLoRpVmtBzc/XLAohwy6qvI/AAAAAAAAAm4/SO_yAvrTY3sxngazqJdfygow4DgC3qylQCEwYBhgL/s1600/NOTULENSI%2BRAPAT%2BTERTUTUP%2BPRABOWO%2BSUBIANTO%2BDAN%2BTIM%2B4.jpg>In > an on-the-record interview, however, Prabowo's party vice-chair told me > that Prabowo has -- outside public view -- stepped in on behalf of Freeport. > > Apparently trying to make the point to me that Prabowo "is not > anti-foreigner" > ("Artinya, dia tidak anti asing, itu"), his party vice chair, Arief > Poyuono revealed > that an "angry" ("marah") Prabowo personally intervened to kill a large > workers'-rights lawsuit against Freeport that he, Poyouono, had filed. > > Poyuono said that following an industrial accident at Freeport, acting in > his capacity as a union leader, he had filed the suit without consulting > Prabowo but "I pulled it" ("Saya cabut") after Prabowo got wind of it. > > "Prabowo got mad at me," ("Prabowo marah sama saya") Poyuono said, and > ordered him: "'Arief, don't. You're not allowed to do this'" because > "'Freeport has made a big investment'" ("'Eh, Jangan,' katanya, 'itu nggak > boleh,' katanya. 'Jangan begitu, mereka sudah investasi banyak!'"). > > Poyuono added that Prabowo's view of Freeport is "extremely positive" > ("sangat positif") and said that he viewed Jokowi's partial nationalization > as "too harsh" ('terlalu kasar"). > > Poyuono was one of only three civilians named in the Minutes as > participating in Prabowo's December 21 strategy session. > > The other named attendees, besides Prabowo, were six retired generals and > three retired admirals. > > These officers included the generals Glenny Kairupan and Yunus Yosfiah, > who have been implicated in -- respectively -- the 1999 UN referendum East > Timor arson/massacre terror, and the Timor Balibo murders > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balibo_Five> of five Australian and New > Zealand journalists. > > Poyuono's statements to me regarding Prabowo and Freeport -- and also > Prabowo and Trump (he said Prabowo has been trying to meet Trump, and that > he and Prabowo regard Trump as "excellent" ["bagus"] and they have been > using Trump's campaign tactics) -- are consistent with the repeated > allusions in the Minutes to Prabowo's desire to please Washington, a motive > that comes across as second only to his desire to eliminate competitors. > > --- > > Although Prabowo recently swore at a rally to not use state coercive > forces for his own political interests, the Minutes of his closed strategy > session lay out detailed plans to do precisely that. > > The mandate for "putting on trial as many political opponents as possible" > was to be handed to Prabowo's new Attorney General (with the party targets > being the anti-Prabowo pro-Jokowi PDI Perjuangan, Nasdem, Golkar, PKB, and > PPP) and also, apparently, the ostensibly independent Corruption > Eradication Commission (KPK), three of whose current leaders were named to > be "attacked," "toppled" and "removed" as "principal targets of the > operation to get control of the KPK." > > On the covert side, there is "the agenda of attacks on political > opponents" to be carried out by BIN (Badan Intelijen Negara), the State > Intelligence Body -- a liaison partner of the CIA, perhaps best known for > its 2004 arsenic assassination of my friend, the human rights hero Munir > (an assassination commanded by a general > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/10/breaking-news-gen-hendropriyono-admits.html> > , Hendropriyono > <https://www.allannairn.org/2015/02/breaking-news-rekaman-wawancara.html>, > who currently advises Jokowi). > > Once Prabowo takes power, BIN's extra-legal means are also to be unleashed > against the coalition of parties now campaigning for him, with a crucial > exemption for his personal political vehicle, Gerindra. > > One of the designated targets for Prabowo's BIN is the leadership of the > Demokrat Party of General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (known as SBY), a former > president who helped cashier Prabowo from the army after the fall of > Suharto. In this year's campaign, SBY seemed to endorse Prabowo somewhat > reluctantly. In a leaked private letter he criticized plans for Prabowo's > biggest rally as being divisive. > > As it happens, the December strategy session only started, according to > the Minutes, at 9:00 pm, as soon as Prabowo returned from a Jakarta > sit-down with SBY. > > The Minutes state: "Another future task of the BIN is to debilitate the > coalition parties in order to increase Gerindra's dominance inside > government: PKS [Partai Keadilan Sejahtera, the influential Islamist party] > and the Demokrat Party will be completely defeated through various cases of > Corruption, old and new. Party leaders are going to be jailed for > corruption. With that, Prabowo will appear to be a strong and firm > president in enforcing the law." > > These political jailings are mandated before the fact, before evidence is > gathered or trials held. And they are mandated only for real or claimed > corruption, not for mass murder, torture or similar state crimes. > > Prabowo's BIN is also to get the assignment of "crippling of the HTI [the > Indonesian chapter of Hizb ut-tahrir, banned by the government as a threat > to the state and public safety], FPI [originally launched by the army and > police as "preman" (street thugs) to attack pro-democracy activists] JAD > and equivalent groups," which complements the order to POLRI (the national > police) to "debilitate the HTI and FPI movements and arrest the radical > clerics to show America and its allies that Prabowo-Sandi are resolute in > subduing radicalism and terrorism in Southeast Asia." > > This is politically perhaps the most explosive aspect since HTI, FPI, the > political Party PKS, similar groups and "the radical clerics" are the > driving force of Prabowo's grassroots campaign. > > And Prabowo -- the supposed arch enemy of the "foreign lackeys" is > explicitly doing this for the US: > > At the meeting, "It was also made known that in mid-December 2018 Prabowo > was invited by the American Ambassador to meet in the residence of > Ambassador Joseph R. Donovan, Jr. Apart from discussing the China-US trade > war, the two discussed Indonesia's commitment to oppose terrorism going > forward. Prabowo promised he will fully support the American effort to > wage war on the [Islamist] radical forces and terrorists of Indonesia." > > Explicating his pitch to the US, the Minutes state: "if chosen as > president the first step he [Prabowo] will take will be to *crush > [Islamist] radicalism in Indonesia,*"(emphasis in original), a notable > commitment for Prabowo who, in his biggest rally, campaigned alongside the > FPI leader, Habib Rizieq Shihab (who beamed-in by video from Saudi Arabia), > and who in one of his iconic videos is seen saluting the crowds from the > sunroof of a limo provided by the self-proclaimed "president of ISIS > Indonesia," who sent Indonesian fighters to Iraq and Syria. > > One of the reasons for convening the strategy session (apart from planning > "political revenge") was, according to the Minutes, "to decide on concrete > steps regarding several strategic issues like the charge that Prabowo-Sandi > [Sandiaga Uno, a private equity man, is Prabowo's running mate] support the > establishment of The Caliphate [i.e. Indonesia becoming a caliphate]... As > is known, Prabowo, up until this moment, has not yet publicly expressed a > strong position on whether or not he supports or opposes HTI, FPI, and > other forces supporting the creation of a Caliphate in Indonesia. Prabowo > has been intentionally silent because he wishes to use them as foot > soldiers to win the 2019 political battle.." > > But Prabowo and his "core people from the inner circle" -- six named > generals, three named admirals, three named civilian operatives, but no > Islamist leaders -- took the clear decision to sacrifice the foot soldiers > once the battle was done. > > In what appears to be an overestimate of the political payoff to be had > for this, the Minutes say Prabowo "has promised to collaborate with the > United States, Singapore, and Australia who are now said to have given a > signal of support for the Prabowo-Sandi ticket." > > While that may be the case with Singapore, with the US it does not appear > to be so. The US Embassy in Jakarta has not yet responded to a request for > comment. > > The Minutes of this strategy session, entitled “MINUTES OF CLOSED MEETING, > PRABOWO SUBIANTO AND TEAM,” have circulated, in limited fashion, inside > security forces including BIN, and have been handled by officials loyal to > President Jokowi as well as by others who back Prabowo. > > Identified as having been received "from Prabowo-Sandi 'inside people,'" > they were never used politically, apparently because they were seen as > problematic for both partisan sides. > > For the Jokowi forces it was embarrassing to admit they were spying on > Prabowo, as he had charged. And the Minutes undercut the narrative of some > in the Jokowi camp that Prabowo is himself an Islamist extremist, as > opposed to being, as his career -- and now this document -- indicates, a > Suharto, army, Washington, and dictatorship man who still aspires to sole > power. > > For the Prabowo forces, the Minutes undercut his basic claim by portraying > him as working for --not fighting -- the foreigners, and as explicitly > planning to, in effect, make himself the only leader left standing by > repressing Indonesians on all sides. > > Pursuant to that, the strategy session discussed the New Order > dictatorship of Prabowo's father-in-law, Suharto. > > Suharto used the US-advised army to stage a coup against the Indonesian > founding father, Sukarno, and, subsequently, to consolidate power with a > US-backed massacre that, starting in 1965, killed 400,000 to a million > civilians. > > Sustained by US finance, weapons, and training -- much of the > latter facilitated <https://www.allannairn.org/search?q=fair-haired>by > Prabowo > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/07/prabowo-bagian-2-saya-anak-kesayangan..html> > -- > Suharto succeeded in imposing a regime that kept him in power for more than > three decades, until he fell in a democratic uprising that also led to > Prabowo's downfall, after the US dumped him (he told me he had been "their > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/07/prabowo-part-2-i-was-americans-fair.html> > fair-haired boy > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/07/prabowo-bagian-2-saya-anak-kesayangan..html>") > when he lost a power struggle to a rival general, Wiranto. > > Under Suharto's New Order, massacre survivors and their descendants were > jailed, banned and demonized, and the army -- which kept on murdering, as > it still does today, mainly in West Papua --was elevated to great wealth > and to be the arbiter of even neighborhood and village-level politics. > > In their December meeting, Prabowo and team proposed to, in a sense, > revive that. > > They decided: “the role of the Army will be strengthened to be as it was > in the New Order era” (“Peran Angkatan Darat > akan diperkuat seperti pada jaman Orde Baru”), a remarkable proposition > considering the strength -- and impunity -- that army has now. > > Prabowo himself has been implicated in more atrocities than perhaps any > officer, including hands-on torture in East Timor, the '98 Jakarta terror > against ethnic Chinese, the Jakarta kidnapping and execution of activists, > mass killing operations in Aceh, the '83 Kraras mountainside massacre of > "several hundred" civilians, and an operation in West Papua in which > Prabowo's men posed as the International Red Cross to machine-gun civilians > from a helicopter. > > Yet, despite the brave, persistent demands of survivors, he, as a general, > is still untouchable. > > He feels secure enough that when talking to me -- an adversary -- in 2001 > about a massacre I survived (on November 12, 1991, at the Santa Cruz > cemetery in Dili, East Timor) he was critical not of the open slaughter of > at least 271 civilians but, rather, of his colleagues' technique: "You > don't massacre civilians in front of the world press," he said. "Maybe > commanders do it in villages where no one will ever know > <https://www.allannairn.org/2014/06/news-do-i-have-guts-prabowo-asked-am-i.html>, > but not in the provincial capital!" > > Jokowi, the civilian incumbent, is so afraid of the army that he has > retreated from promises of prosecution, and has let the army hold key posts > inside his team and let them and their TNI colleagues, and intel, and the > Police, slowly start to claw-back several of their New Order privileges. > > This fact has so disappointed many survivors and activists that in this > election they vow to Golput -- in effect, abstain. > > This is no doubt delightful for Prabowo and his men: he has killed the > ones they cherish, but, by abstaining, they may help him win. > > --- > > The official assigned to start the process of restoring the army to its > New Order status is, according to the Minutes, General Gatot Nurmantyo, a > former TNI commander who -- after months of presidential waffling -- was > eventually removed by Jokowi. > > General Gatot openly espouses a strategic theory called "Proxy Wars" that > defines Indonesian activists, dissidents, social movements -- and LGBT > people -- as foreign agents. > > After leaving his armed forces post, Gatot stated he was politically > neutral. But last week he came out and openly endorsed General Prabowo. > > --- > > Full scrollable text of Minutes, Bahasa Indonesia original: > > Notulensi Rapat Tertutup Pr... > <https://www.scribd.com/document/406301220/Notulensi-Rapat-Tertutup-Prabowo-Subianto-Dan-Tim#from_embed> > by <https://www.blogger.com/undefined#from_embed>on Scribd > > > > > > > > > > > > > > NOTE TO READERS: News and Comment is looking for assistance with > translating blog postings into other languages, and also with fund raising > and distributing the blog content more widely. Those interested please get > in touch via the e-mail link below. NOTE TO READERS RE. TRANSLATION: > Portions of News and Comment are now available in Arabic, Brazilian > Portuguese, Danish, French, German, Russian and Spanish translation (click > preceding links or Profile link above) but translation help is still needed > -- particularly with older postings, in these and all other languages. NOTE > TO READERS RE. POTENTIAL EVIDENCE: News and Comment is looking for public > and private documents and first-hand information that could develop into > evidence regarding war crimes or crimes against humanity by officials. > Please forward material via the email link below. Email Me > <[email protected]> > > > Posted by [email protected] (Allan Nairn) at 4/15/2019 01:00:00 > <https://www.allannairn.org/2019/04/breaking-news-prabowo-strategy-session.html> > > >
