Why Indonesia's President Should Rehabilitate the Late Subandrio
(JG Graphics/Josep Tri Ronggo Laksono)
On Dec. 21, 2000, Subandrio, who during his life served as deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs and chief of Indonesia's Central Intelligence Agency (BPI), met with President Abdurrahman Wahid and pleaded that the government rehabilitate his name. Gus Dur instructed two of his ministers — Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Marsillam Simandjuntak — to follow up on that appeal, with no results to date.
On the night of July 3, 2004, Subandrio died at the age of 90. Seen at the house of mourning to pay their last respects were two former ministers of foreign affairs, Roeslan Abdulgani and Ali Alatas, and the head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Hendropriyono. Foreign newspapers, The Guardian and The New York Times, reported the death of Subandrio, who had spent almost three decades in prison for his alleged involvement in the 30 September Movement in 1965.
The first trial in the case against Dr. Haji Subandrio was scheduled on Sept. 30, 1966, at midnight. Curfew was imposed in Jakarta at the time and the proceeding commenced on Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. In what seemed like the filming of a soap opera, less than a month later, on Oct. 25, the Extraordinary Military Tribunal (Mahmilub) sentenced Subandrio to death.
A letter of protest came in just before his execution — from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the country where the convict broke ground for an Indonesian representative office in 1946 and was ambassador from 1950-54. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. In 1995, on health grounds, Subandrio was released after serving 29 years in jail.
Fighting for Indonesia abroad
Born in Kepanjen, Malang, on Sept. 15, 1914, Subandrio worked, for some time, as a surgeon in colonial Batavia. It was not clear who later sent him to London — Sukarno or Sjahrir — after the proclamation of independence in 1945. However, from 1946 to 1956, Subandrio fought overseas for his young country's interests. He was ambassador of Indonesia to the Soviet Union from 1954-56 before Sukarno made him secretary general of the Foreign Ministry. After that, he was appointed foreign minister, an office he held for nine years until 1966.
In 1962, he became deputy prime minister in charge of foreign policy, and also headed the State Intelligence Agency, coordinating intelligence units of the armed forces and the Attorney General's Office. Foreign issues remained his key focus. Subandrio was also appointed coordinator for West Irian.
His focus remained intact: BPI in 1965 distributed a letter of the British ambassador to Jakarta, Sir Andrew Gilchrist, to delegates of the Asia-Africa Conference scheduled in Algeria. The document mentioned the relationship between the British government and Indonesian officers ("our local army friends").
Regardless of the authenticity of the document, its distribution aimed to alert the conference attendees to the British, who were helping Malaysia — at that time in confrontation with Indonesia. As minister of foreign affairs, Subandrio transferred a total of 500.000 from the account of the ministry to BPI to fund the "Ganyang Malaysia" (Crush Malaysia) military operation.
He did not put the money in his personal account, and according to his lawyer, Yap Thiam Hien, what he did was legal.
Subandrio was not involved in the 30 September Movement (G30S), even though his name was unknowingly listed among those of its leaders. When the coup attempt took place, Subandrio and his entourage were in Medan. The group returned to Java only on Oct. 3, 1965.
He was convicted of allowing others to execute a planned mutiny with an unacceptable use of a logic: he asked communist leader Aidit to go back to Jakarta, hence the failed coup of 1965.
Subandrio, as ordered by President Sukarno, indeed sent telegrams on July 30, 1965, asking Aidit and Njoto, another top leader of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), to return to Jakarta (to help prepare a presidential speech). Jamin, secretary to the president, testified in court that he sent a wire to Njoto (only Njoto) on Aug. 2, telling him to return to Jakarta.
Based on the testimony that the president only sent for Njoto, the military prosecutor concluded that Subandrio added Aidit to the list. However, the court also revealed that the telegram sent by Subandrio was received in Beijing by Aidit, who replied that he would fly to Jakarta and that Njoto was in Moscow. So why did Jamin, President Sukarno's secretary, only wire Njoto a few days later? The reason was clear: Aidit had already responded.
Campaign of defamation
"Durno" (double-tongued opportunist) and "Haji Peking" (haji from Beijing) are two names used to damage Subandrio's reputation. The military court's presiding judge, Ali Said, and judge advocate, Durmawel Ahmad, wrote a book on the case tendentiously titled "Sangkur Adil: Pengupas Fitnah Chianat" ("Just Bayonet: Dismantling Treacherous Slander"). Subandrio was accused of playing off the Army against the PKI while it was evident that there had already been rivalry between the two. And he was given the name Haji Peking because he advocated friendly ties with the People's Republic of China. His religious beliefs were questioned; in one proceeding, the prosecutor asked how many times he prayed. He diplomatically responded that he prayed more often than he was obligated to.
Important to note, too, is that when protests against Sukarno by school and university students continued, a movement called Barisan Sukarno (Sukarnoist Column) was formed not by Subandrio — as charged in the court — but by Sukarno himself.
Setting the record straight
In 2001, a book by Subandrio titled "Meluruskan Sejarah Perjuangan Irian Barat" ("Correcting the History of the Struggle for West Irian") argued convincingly that diplomacy played a significant role in the liberation of the province in the early 1960s, besides military operations.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was coordinating minister for political and security affairs at the time, said that the book was valuable and beneficial since the accounts in it were from Subandrio himself, "one of those people who made, and played a crucial part in, Indonesian history."
Article 14, paragraph 1, of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic Indonesia says that the Indonesian president has the right to re-instate the good name of an individual.
The late Subandrio clearly deserves to be honored for his service to the country in foreign policy and for negotiating the liberation of West Irian. But Subandrio was sentenced to death even though he was not a communist and served 29 years in prison even though was not at all involved in the 30 September Movement.
It would therefore be appropriate if President Yudhoyono expands upon his earlier statements about Subandrio's role in Indonesian history and posthumously offers him full rehabilitation under Article 14.
Asvi Warman Adam is a historian at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
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