TNI Refutes Testimony of American Journalist

Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Head of Information Center, Admiral Sagom Tamboen, commented on American journalist Allan Nairn's report. Nairn previously revealed the killing of Aceh's activists in 2009 on his blog, with all leads pointing at the Special Corps.

Sagom said Nairn has made a fake repor, by saying the the Special Corps was behind it, and that the killing was under order from a superior officer in Jakarta. "It can be refuted by two undeniable facts," he said.

The first fact is that according to Helsinki MoU, Indonesian non-organic TNI must be withdrawn from the area. Therefore since 2006, there has been no non-organic TNI in the area, including that of the Special Corps. The second fact is that during the General Election 2009, TNI has never had reports from the police of electoral supervision agency over such case of civilian killing in Aceh.

Therefore, Sagom said Allan Nairn was incorrect, thus popping question as to whether what the true intention of Nairn's lie. Sagom later explained that Nairn's story was based on a testimony of the perpetrator, which is highly unlikely. "What is important right now is that we must be careful towards cheap issues that attempt to tear this nation apart," he said in a closing remark.

Elik Susanto

  ♞ Tempo