President Jokowi: Armed Criminal Groups Have No Place in Indonesia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian President Joko Widodo has affirmed his uncompromising stance against insurgents in Indonesia, after the death of Brigadier General I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha, the head of Indonesian intelligence [BIN] in Papua on Sunday.

“There is no place for insurgents or Armed Criminal Groups [KKB] in Papua and elsewhere in Indonesia,” said the President, who is also known as Jokowi, in a virtual press statement in YouTube on Monday, April 26.

The head of state urged Indonesian Military chief [Air Force Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto and National Police Chief General Hadi Tjahjanto] to hunt down the KKB. He also paid his last respects to the deceased.

Also read: Indonesian Intelligence Official Shot Dead in Papua

“On behalf of the Indonesian people and nation I would like to convey my condolences to the loved ones [Brigadier General I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha] left behind…The government will posthumously promote him [to the two-star rank of Major General].”

Brigadier General Danny will be buried with military honors at Jakarta’s Kalibata Heroes Cemetery on Tuesday.

The insurgents shot and killed Brigadier General Danny on Puncak Jaya regency’s Beoga district, after they ambushed his convoy as it was headed to the village of Dambet. Beoga is known to be a hotspot for the insurgency.

Tribunnews Brigadier General Gusti Putu Danny Nugraha, was shot dead by an armed criminal group (KKB) in Beoga district, Papua on Sunday, April 25.

“According to the reports I obtained, the KKB who shot [and killed Brigadier General Danny] are from the group of insurgents led by Lekagak Telenggen,” the Antara state news agency quoted Cendrawasih or Papua Regional Military Commander Major General Ignatius Triyono as saying.

Indonesian National Police spokesman Brigadier General Rusdi Hartono said the police “has identified the Armed Criminal Group who has been terrorizing the Puncak regency.”

But he refused to disclose the group’s identity, though he maintained that “the military and police are stepping up efforts to pursue and capture the KKB. There is no place for armed criminal insurgents in Papua.”