JAKARTA – The head of the TNI Information Center (Kapuspen) Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad emphasized that no senior officer in the ranks of the TNI Headquarters (Mabes) has ever given orders to bring down the billboards for the Grand Imam of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) Habib Rizieq Shihab.
According to him, the order was only in the ranks of the Jayakarta Military Region Command (Kodam Jaya).
Riad’s statement answered the question of the viral video of Habib Rizieq Shihab’s removal of the large billboard by a number of men in striped clothes and the statement of the Jakarta Military Commander Major General Dudung Abdurachman who admitted that this activity was his order.
“There is no (order) to remove billboards at Headquarters. That is the policy of the Kodam Commander himself, because he sees the situation on the ground,” said Riad when confirmed by telephone, Sunday (11/22/2020).
When he further confirmed how the TNI Headquarters’ attitude responded to the policy made by Pangdam Jaya, he was reluctant to comment further.
Previously, Pangdam Jaya Maj. Gen. Dudung Abdurachman admitted that the removal of Rizieq Shihab’s billboards by a group of men in striped clothes was his order. According to Dudung, the removal was carried out because several attempts to remove the police officers failed because the billboards were installed again after being removed.
“Okay, someone in a striped shirt brings down Habib Rizieq’s billboard, that’s my order,” said Dudung, after the simultaneous disaster preparedness and regional elections, at Monas Cross Field, Central Jakarta, Friday (20/11/2020) morning.
The Two Star General explained that the men in stripes came from the Garrison. Dudung said that the Satpol PP often had trouble curbing the banners.
“Because several times the Satpol PP has lowered it, it has been raised again. My orders are. Look, if anyone in this Republic, whoever, this is a state of law. Must obey the law,” explained Dudung.
(kha)
–
