Defense Ministry to Manage BIN Data; Prabowo: As President's Order

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto confirmed that his ministry would orchestrate information from the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), the National Police, and the Cyber and National Encryption Agency (BSSN) as ordered by President Joko Widodo or Jokowi.

However, the general chairman of the Gerindra Party denied the information that all intelligence agencies would be under the direct control of the Defense Ministry.

“[They] won’t be under the Ministry of Defense. [The ministry is] ordered by the President to be kind of coordinator, to evaluate, that's all,” said Prabowo when met after the inauguration of the Gerindra-PKB Joint Secretariat (Sekber) in Menteng, Central Jakarta, Monday, January 23, 2023.

The order came out after Jokowi met with Prabowo's invitation to attend the Defense Ministry’s Leadership Meeting on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. In the meeting, the President instructed Prabowo to arrange intelligence information in a number of institutions, such as BIN, the National Police, and BSSN.

“I convey the importance of the Defense Ministry being the orchestrator for intelligence information on all lines that we have,” said the President in a speech during the meeting held at the Defense Ministry office, in Central Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association or PBHI, Julius Ibrani, believed that Jokowi's move has the potential to threaten civil liberties and clearly violates Law No. 17 of 2011 concerning State Intelligence.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH | EKA YUDHA SAPUTRA | FAJAR PEBRIANTO

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