Army chief: No Kopassus soldiers in Aceh
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 03/24/2010 5:22 PM | National
Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Touisutta on Wednesday joined the chorus of denial of allegations of political murders committed by a Special Forces unit ahead of the 2009 legislative elections in Aceh.
George said the Army had never dispatched the elite force to Aceh since the historic 2005 Helsinki peace agreement that put an end to a decades long civil war in the province.
“No special forces have entered Aceh since the Helsinki agreement. Neither any elite personnel nor militia. [Deployment] must go through levels of command and we have been ordered to stay out of Aceh,” George said, as quoted by Antara.
The comments come in response to a report by US journalist Allan Nairn, who said at least eight Aceh Party members were killed by Kopassus personnel ahead of the elections.
George called the report “nonsense”.
