Hitman in Assassination Plot on Indonesian Officials Confesses
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9 June 2019 16:22 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Iwan Kurniawan, one of the suspects apprehended in the assassination plot on four Indonesian State Officials, confessed that he was surprised when he was initially informed of the target he had to assassinate.
The would-be hit-man was first tasked to murder a Joko “Jokowi” Widodo buzzer but eventually was given four names of Indonesian national state officials as the actual targets.
“Hearing the names of the targets got me immediately shaking,” Iwan confessed in an interview with a team from Tempo magazine on Tuesday, May 28.
The four high-ranking officials marked by the assassin were Coordinating Minister of Politics, Law, and Security Affairs Wiranto, Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Head of State Intelligence Budi Gunawan, and Presidential Special Staff on Intelligence and Security Affairs Gories Mere.
Iwan opted to be open about the assassination plan to Tempo, which includes the mastermind behind the plot that he claims to be from the Former chief of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Kivlan Zein.
The former army soldier that committed desertion in 2005 explained why Kivlan Zen aimed to terminate the four state officials.
Other than that, the former Kivlan Zen subordinate claims the assassination plot was formed in a casual discussion at a restaurant in North Jakarta. He also recalled his attempts to flee from Kivlan’s radar to avoid being tasked to lead the assassination plot.
Tempo’s in-depth report on Iwan’s confession in the Tempo magazine’s Indonesian version published on June 10 and Tempo English Magazine published one day after.
Responding to this issue, Kivlan Zen denies being the mastermind behind the assassination plot. “I am not aware of it,” said Kivlan at police’s criminal investigation agency (Bareskrim) on May 29. His lawyer, Muhammad Yuntri, further denies Iwan’s confession and maintains that his client never ordered anyone to assassinate any State Officials Iwan mentioned.
“It doesn’t make sense for Pak Kivlan to plot on murdering national figures,” said the lawyer.
MAJALAH TEMPO | IRSYAN HASYIM | ROSSENO AJI
