Prabowo's Baggage

THE abduction of pro-democracy activists in 1998 caused a rift between military officers Fachrul Razi and Syamsu Djalal. Syamsu Djalal, who at the time was commander of the Military Police, holding the rank of major-general, tried to have Prabowo Subianto court-martialed. But Fachrul Razi, who at that time was the Armed Forces (ABRI) chief of general staff with the rank of lieutenant-general, prevented him from doing so.

"The initial evidence that Prabowo was the brains behind the abductions was very strong," said Syamsu Djalal in an interview last week. Fachrul and Syamsu are presently aligned with the supporters of presidential candidate Joko Widodo.

June 17, 2014