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Both tickets carry baggage from past

Jakarta Post - June 3, 2014

Abuse claims cloud Prabowo's run for presidency – Agence France Presse. May 30, 2014
A checkered past continues to dog would-be leader – Jakarta Globe. May 30, 2014
Candidates urged to address human rights – Jakarta Post. May 23, 2014
Prabowo Subianto faces court challenge over alleged human rights abuses – ABC Radio Australia. May 21, 2014
Indonesian election candidates the focus of human rights concerns – Sydney Morning Herald. May 20, 2014

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – "I am a supporter of Munir. And who murdered Munir? Where is the murderer now? One thing's for sure – he's not Prabowo [Subianto]," said lawmaker Tjatur Sapto Edy of the National Mandate Party (PAN) recently, after a reporter wearing a T-shirt bearing the face of Munir, the outspoken rights campaigner who died from arsenic poisoning, asked him for an interview.

When pressed to elaborate on his statement, Tjatur, one of members in the presidential campaign team for the Gerindra Party's Prabowo, declined.

He only scoffed when reporters brought up the name of Pollycarpus Budihari Prijanto, the convicted murderer of Munir, or the name of Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Purwoprandjono, a former leading figure at the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) and a former commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) who was among the key suspects in Munir's poisoning but was later acquitted by a Jakarta court.

Tjatur's cryptic statement was apparently a swipe at the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which nominated Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as its presidential candidate and recently enlisted the help of former BIN chief AM Hendropriyono as member of its campaign team.

Hendropriyono was accused of masterminding Munir's murder, although no evidence was found to prove the allegation. The inclusion of Hendropriyono could compromise the party's move to use the human rights issue to attack Prabowo.

Last month, Jokowi's supporters launched the Menolak Lupa (Refuse to Forget) campaign to remind voters about the role of Prabowo in the May 1998 anti-Chinese riots.

The PDI-P has also stepped up its move to highlight the role of Prabowo in masterminding the involuntary disappearances of 13 pro-democracy activists in the period leading up to the resignation of then president Soeharto.

On Monday, a group of rights activists met with People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Sidarto Danusubroto, a senior PDI-P politician, to demand closure to the case of the missing activists.

But with the inclusion of Hendropriyono in the campaign team, it will be difficult for the PDI-P to take the high moral ground on human rights.

Rights campaigner Usman Hamid, a former member of a fact finding team tasked with investigating Munir's death, expressed disappointment at the PDI-P move to include Hendropriyono due to the retired general's "alleged involvement in Munir's murder".

"Jokowi's campaign team is now no different than Prabowo's. I personally have little hope for protection of human rights in the future despite programs promoted by both [presidential] candidates," Usman told The Jakarta Post.

Other than Hendropriyono, Jokowi's campaign team has also involved several other problematic individuals, such as Rokhmin Dahuri, a former maritime affairs and fisheries minister who was sentenced to seven years in prison for illegal collection and use of Rp 11.5 billion (US$988,609) in state funds. On Sunday, Muchdi put Jokowi's campaign in a difficult position when he endorsed the ticket.

NasDem Party politician Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat is another controversial member of Jokowi's campaign team. Viktor is a member of the presidential campaign body with the same rank as top PDI-P politician and Megawati Soekarnoputri's daughter Puan Maharani.

Viktor was implicated in the alleged brutal abuse of Susandi "Aan" Sukatma in December 2009. Susandi, allegedly beaten by his superiors at Artha Graha Group headquarters in Jakarta, is a former employee of PT Maritim Timur Jaya, a fishery unit of the Artha Graha Group – a business conglomerate controlled by tycoon Tomy Winata.

Viktor, who was then Maritim Timur Jaya president director, repeatedly denied his involvement and accused Susandi of defamation and slander. Viktor was never charged.

Prabowo's campaign team also includes individuals with questionable track records, such as Golkar Party lawmaker Setya Novanto, who is implicated in the National Games (PON) graft case, and Kivlan Zen of the United Development Party (PPP), who will be forcibly summoned by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) for refusing to provide details after publicly claiming to have knowledge of the whereabouts of the missing the 1998 pro-democracy activists.

Political analyst Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said given a short supply of capable figures it was "business as usual" for both presidential candidates.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/06/03/both-tickets-carry-baggage-past.html.