COLONEL (RET.) GATOT PURWANTO:
No one dares to chastise Prabowo

EAST Timor holds a special place in the military career of Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto. Important phases in his career path as a soldier happened during that period. Since his graduation from the Military Academy in 1974, Prabowo was posted a number of times when that former Indonesian province began its separatist movement.

Prabowo led units of the Special Forces (Kopassus) since he held the rank of second-lieutenant in East Timor, in an attempt to beat the Timorese guerrilla movement. They had a single target: to douse the armed opposition against the Indonesian authorities. They succeeded, up to a point. In 1978, Prabowo's troops shot and killed Fretilin (the major East Timor rebel group) leader and prime minister in exile, Nicolaus Labato.

July 1, 2014