Name: Muchdi Purwopranjono, Muchdi PR
Date and place of birth: 15 April 1949, Yogyakarta
Education: AKABRI, Military Academy 1970
Career:
- 1971-1974: Battallion commander
- 1974-1979: Commander Parako
- 1979-1988: Commander Karsa Yudha
- 1988-1995: Commander 1701 JP
- 1993-1995: Head of ..in Biak (Papua)
- 1995-1996: Commander ...042, Jambi (South Sumatera)
- 1996-1997: Head of ...Brawijaya (East Java)
- 1997: Operational Assistant of the Commander of Military Area IX, Udayana (Bali and NTT)
- 1997-1998: Chief of the Military Area XII Tanjungpura (Kalimantan)
- 1998: Commander of Kopassus (March - May) (major-general)
- 1999-2001: Headquarters TNI
- 2001-2005: Deputy V of the Head of Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN)
- 2005-2006: officer of BIN
Allegedly involved in human rights violations:
- kidnappings 1997-1998
- murder of Munir 2004
Trial Procedures:
In 1998 Muchdi was the commander of Kopassus when civil society investigations that Munir led, uncovered the branch’s role in the disappearance of pro-democracy activists during 1997-1998.
In August 1998 the TNI Officers' Honorary Council (Dewan Kehormatan Perwira) investigated the kidnappings of 1997-1998, and decided that Muchdi PR be dismissed from his position. No formal criminal investigation has been carried out. In 2005, KomnasHAM started an investigation at the request of relatives of the victims of the kidnappings, 13 of them still not having reappeared. In 2014 the dimissal document was leaked in the context of the presendential election campaign of Pr
abowo Subianto, who was dismissed in the same procedure. Interestingly, several important military officers co-signed the document.
In 2008 Muchdi has been tried for involvement with the murder of human rights actvist Munir Said Thalib. During the procedures the trial was attended by US Embassy staff. Several testimonies indicated that the plot of murdering Munir has been discussed at the highest level of the BIN, with A.M. Hendripriyono in the lead. "In March 2004, Hendropriyono met with four BIN deputies to plot the murder, the document claims, listing four deputies who attended the meeting: Muchdi, M. As'ad, Wahyu Saronto and Manunggal Maladi. The Muchdi team succeeded--the document outlines the plot used to murder Munir, one which closely matched the actual murder scenario in which off-duty pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto poisoned Munir at a Singapore airport coffeeshop in September 2004. (Note: Priyanto was convicted for the murder and is now incarcerated.) Other meetings were outlined in the document as well, including a meeting between Hendropriyono and Muchdi at which Muchdi brought a medical doctor from Army Special Forces (KOPASSUS), who explained how to use liquid poison. "They agreed that Munir should be finished off by poisoning his food or drink," the document stated. Other activities narrated in the document included a BIN agent visiting Munir's office to find out what Munir liked to eat and drink."(Source: Wikileaks) He was acquitted on 31 December 2008. See for comments The Jakarta Post.
Notes:
Promotion of officials implicated in serious human rights violations, such as the Munir and Eluay killings and the crimes against humanity in East Timor, is a common pattern in Indonesia. As of 2011, the courts have not decided on whether to conduct a case review for the trial of Muchdi. Civil society representatives are pushing for an examination of witness tampering and possible corruption in the Muchdi trial.
Muchdi is one of the founders of the Gerindra Party (2008), together with Prabowo Subianto. One of the victims of the 1997-1998 kidnappings, Pius Lustrilanang is the secretary-general of this political party. In 2011 Muchdi left Gerindra and became active in the PPP (Source: Kompas) and in 2014 joined the Joko Widodo campaign (Source: Detik).
