Major General (Ret.) Muchdi Purwopranjono (born 15 April 1949) is an Indonesian politician and former major general who served briefly as Commandant General of the Indonesian Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) and was former deputy head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). He was relieved of command duties in 1998 after the fall of Suharto and was subsequently deemed responsible for abductions of pro-democracy activists. In 2008, he was acquitted of commissioning and assisting in the 2004 assassination of human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib, following a trial deemed flawed by human rights organizations. He is presently the leader of a breakaway faction of Tommy Suharto’s Berkarya Party and his leadership is recognized by the government.
Early life Muchdi was born on 15 April 1949 in Sleman, Yogyakarta. He is the sixth of nine siblings. He has said his father was a leader of Masyumi, an Islamic party, and his mother's family belonged to the Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim mass organization. As a teenager, Muchdi was involved in the Indonesian Muslim Students (PII). Later, he served as deputy chairman of the Family of Indonesian Muslim Students (KBPII), an organization that considers communism and LGBT among the greatest threats to Indonesia.
Muchdi has expressed pride in having been a member of "Generation 66", the generation that helped to bring down founding president Sukarno and replace him with Suharto. Muchdi said he was involved in the Indonesian Student Youth Action Front (KAPPI) in Yogyakarta and often took part in demonstrations.
Military career After completing high school, Muchdi entered the Military Academy in 1967 and graduated in 1970. He served in East Timor four times. Muchdi became close to fellow soldier Prabowo Subianto, as both were tough fighters and Muslims. Muchdi's later promotions in the military were attributed to his connection to Prabowo, who in 1983 had married then-president Suharto's daughter Siti Hediati Hariyadi. Starting in 1995, Muchdi was promoted three times in three years from colonel to brigadier general to major general.
Muchdi has said that in 1986, while he was training at the Army Staff and Command College (Seskoad) in Bandung, he was summoned by the Intelligence Task Force of the Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order (Kopkamtib) in Jakarta and detained for three days on accusations of having been a member of the Pemuda Rakyat (People's Youth) division of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) prior to his entry to AKABRI (the Indonesian Armed Forces Academy). He countered that his parents and family had actually been targets of the PKI in Yogyakarta 1965.
Muchdi served in territorial command posts in Irian Jaya (now Papua) from the late 1980s to mid-1990s, Jambi (1995–96), East Java (1996–97) and Kalimantan (1997–98). In 1998, he was Kopassus commander for three months. In May 1998 he was removed from structural duties following the resignation of Suharto. In August 1998 an Indonesian Military (TNI) Officers' Honorary Council (Dewan Kehormatan Perwira) ruled Muchdi was among those responsible for the 1997-98 kidnappings of pro-democracy activists. After that, Muchdi was a general without a command portfolio at TNI headquarters.
Military and intelligence positions 1971-1972: Platoon Commander of Taruna Military Academy 1972-1974: Para-commando Platoon Commander 1974-1979: Para-commando Company Commander 1979-1988: Commander of Karsa Yudha special warfare group 1988-1995: Commander of 1701 Jayapura Military District (Irian Jaya, now Papua) 1993-1995: Chief-of-staff of Biak 173 Military Resort Command (Irian Jaya, now Papua) 1995-1996: Commander of 042 Military Resort Command/Garuda Putih (Jambi) (rank of Colonel) 1996-1997: Chief of staff of Military District Command V/Brawijawa (East Java) (rank of Brigadier General) 1997: Operations Assistant for Military Regional Command IX/Udayana (Bali and Eastern Indonesia) 1997-1998: Commander-in chief of Military Regional Command VI/Tanjungpura (Kalimantan) (rank of Major General) March–May 1998: Commandant General of Kopassus 1998-2001: Senior Officer without command at TNI Headquarters 2001-2005: Deputy chief V of State Intelligence Agency (BIN)
Promotion to Commandant General of Kopassus Muchdi's promotion to the leadership of Kopassus on 28 March 1998 came at the behest of his friend and predecessor Prabowo, who was being promoted to chief of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad). Then-Army chief Wiranto opposed Muchdi being installed as Kopassus chief and instead favored Brigadier General Sang Nyoman Suwisma, a Hindu. But Wiranto was outmaneuvered by Prabowo, who was close to Suharto. As Wiranto recounted in his memoir Witness in the Storm:
Muchdi spent fewer than 60 days as Kopassus chief amid the financial crisis, riots and pro-democracy movement that led to Suharto's resignation.
Loss of Kopassus command When Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998, Muchdi accompanied Prabowo to the Jakarta residence of new president B.J. Habibie at 11pm to present a draft cabinet line-up and recommended changes to the military leadership. Later that night, Muchdi reported to a gathering of Muslim leaders the meeting with Habibie had gone well. However, Habibie instead favored General Wiranto, who recommended Muchdi be sacked as Kopassus chief. After Habibie agreed, Wiranto instructed Army chief Subagyo Hadiswoyo to relieve Prabowo and Muchdi of their duties.
During the May 1998 riots, Wiranto had assigned Kopassus officers, under the command of Muchdi, to protect Habibie's Jakarta house. These officers outnumbered the presidential guards at Habibie's house on 21 May and initially refused to leave without orders from Muchdi, but were convinced to leave on the evening of 22 May. On the afternoon of 22 May, Prabowo met with Muchdi at the state palace. Prabowo wanted more time before he and Muchdi would be transferred to non-combat positions, to create the perception that it was a normal military rotation, but Wiranto insisted on the changes being made immediately. On the morning of 23 May, Subagyo removed Muchdi from the command of Kopassus. Major-General Syahrir was sworn in as the new Kopassus chief on May 25. Muchdi was shifted to the non-combat role of deputy inspector general of TNI. On 1 March 2001, Muchdi was among 55 generals present at an Army headquarters meeting that agreed the Army should never try to seize power.
Abductions of activists From early 1997 to May 1998, Kopassus troops kidnapped 23 pro-democracy activists with the aim of intimidating opponents of Suharto's autocratic regime. One of the activists was found dead, nine were released and 13 never reappeared. Survivors said they were tortured. Responding to demands for justice after Suharto's resignation in May 1998, TNI convened an Officers Honor Council, which in August 1998 found that Prabowo and Muchdi bore responsibility for the abductions.
According to The Indonesian Army by Joseph Daves, the Officers Honor Council decided Prabowo and Muchdi should be granted immunity from civil prosecution in return for their cooperation. The two reportedly said Suharto gave verbal orders to abduct dissidents and subsequently to “finish them off”. The Officers Honor Council ruled Prabowo and Muchdi had misinterpreted Suharto's order.
Chief of the Officers Honor Council, General Subagyo Hadisiswoyo, said Prabowo and Muchdi either gave instructions for the abductions or were aware of their issuance. He said Muchdi, as Kopassus chief, must have fully understood his authority and duties. In 2008, when Muchdi was tried for orchestrating the murder of human rights activist Munir, his lawyer argued he had no connection to the abductions because he was in Kalimantan when they took place. In a 2008 interview, Muchdi said he had actually ordered the release of the remaining activists when he became Kopassus chief.
Treason allegation In March 2001, President Abdurrahman Wahid accused Forestry Ministry secretary general Suripto of meeting with Muchdi at Jakarta's Kempinski Hotel to plot treason. Police questioned Muchdi, who said he had met with Suripto only to discuss logging concessions. Suripto also denied plotting treason. He said Muchdi owns a timber company in West Kalimantan, so they had met several times at Suripto's office to discuss the timber business. Wahid was impeached and removed from office four months later.
BIN career In June 2000, detikcom online news portal speculated Muchdi had been nominated to replace Air Vice Marshal Ian Santoso as director of the Strategic Intelligence Agency (BAIS, responsible to Military Headquarters), while there was also a claim Prabowo had advised then-President Abdurrahman Wahid to appoint Muchdi as head of the State Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Bakin, responsible to the President), which was headed by Lieutenant General Arie J. Kumaat. BAKIN was in January 2001 restructured and renamed the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). After Abdurrahman Wahid was impeached in July 2001, his successor Megawati Sukarnoputri appointed Hendropriyono to lead BIN on 9 August 2001. In December 2001, Muchdi was appointed Deputy V of BIN. In March 2005, he was positioned as a BIN principal agent. In April 2003, he retired from the military and had the status of a Group 4 civil servant. On 1 January 2008, he retired as a Group 4 civil servant.
Terrorism investigations and infiltration After the October 2002 Bali bombings that left 202 people dead, Muchdi – in his capacity as deputy head of BIN – headed a joint intelligence task force that complemented the police investigation into the terror attack. The formal separation of the Indonesian Military and Police in 1999 had compromised the intelligence capabilities of the police force, which lacked a database on radical groups. Hence, Muchdi's task force was required to provide police with military intelligence, as BIN had a database on extremists. Muchdi's group reportedly pursued suspects in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara province. Two weeks after the bombings, BIN asked police to arrest seven suspects, but police were unable to make the arrests based on BIN's evidence.
The Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), founded by radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, suspected it had been penetrated by BIN operatives. Tempo magazine in December 2002 reported a senior BIN operative, Abdul Harris, had entered MMI at its inception and served as head of its international relations division. His true identity was reportedly exposed during a meeting of Muslim leaders at a religious gathering at Muchdi's house. According to the book After Bali: The Threat of Terrorism in Southeast Asia, Muchdi introduced Harris to the Muslim leaders as a “BIN operative”.
Munir Said Thalib murder trial and acquittal In August 2008, Muchdi went on trial at South Jakarta District Court, accused of soliciting and planning the September 2004 murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. The killing was perpetrated by an off-duty Garuda pilot and alleged BIN agent named Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto. In earlier trials, Garuda chief executive Indra Setiawan testified he had met with Muchdi and received a verbal and written request from BIN to assign Pollycarpus to a flight that Munir made from Jakarta to Singapore.