Indonesia-US arms-sale conspiracy?
Indonesian military finally admitted its relationship with businessmen arrested in US for a conspiracy in arms-sale. They are, Hadianto Djoko Djuliarso and Ignatius Ferdinandus Soeharli, and Ibrahim bin Amran (Singapore citizen) and David Beecroft (British).
They are charged with trying to smuggle more than 882 sub-machine guns, 800 hand guns, 16 sniper rifles and almost 250 air-to-air Sidewinder missiles.
Kompas quoted Communication Chief of the Indonesia Air Force Sagom Tamboen saying Air Force has cooperation with Hadianto Djoko Djuliarso (40) under a company called PT Ataru Indonesia, for F-5 fighter jet's radar procurement. "That's it, only radar, not arms procurement," he said.
Hadianto, from my research, is the managing director of Ataru Indonesia. In a letter to Russian agencies early last month, Hadianto introduced Ataru as an agent for some industrial and aviation product. Below is Hadianto's letter published in the website www.airshow.ru.
....Recently also we have been appointing as one of registered vendor for our Indonesia Arms (Air Force, Army ad Navy). Recently we are mostly focusing in Air Force area. With our good performance by completing our contracts successfully inclusive of sold one VIP Boeing Aircraft to Indonesia Air Force and supporting by our aggressive marketing team that approaching in daily basis, we have been completing more than 15 contracts in the passed 2 years. Refer to our record to deliver a used VIP aircraft made our customer give us more attention and opportunity. We do believe we could develop you business opportunity in Indonesia. So herewith we would propose you to consider us as one of your sales arm for Indonesia Air Force. Refer to above matter, kindly advise us the possibility to get support for purchase and or repair of AL-31F engine for Su-27 Flanker that own by IDAF. Looking forward to hear best news from you soon. we would send immediately all the necessary legal document and authorization vendor from Indonesia Arms once you need it.
Best regards, PT. Ataru Indonesia Hadianto Djoko Managing Director .
It's clear from this letter that Ataru is not just dealing with radar, but arms-sale in general, even though in www.asianproducts.com Ataru claimed itself as manufacturer of blood circuit for artificial kidneys and other medical equipments.
But Foreign Affairs Ministry denied government's involvement in the transaction. What's actually happen in US?
Below is the article of Ken Kobayashi from The Honolulu Advertiser published Tuesday (April 11) under the title Arms-sale conspiracy claimed.
They are charged with trying to smuggle more than 882 sub-machine guns, 800 hand guns, 16 sniper rifles and almost 250 air-to-air Sidewinder missiles.
Kompas quoted Communication Chief of the Indonesia Air Force Sagom Tamboen saying Air Force has cooperation with Hadianto Djoko Djuliarso (40) under a company called PT Ataru Indonesia, for F-5 fighter jet's radar procurement. "That's it, only radar, not arms procurement," he said.
Hadianto, from my research, is the managing director of Ataru Indonesia. In a letter to Russian agencies early last month, Hadianto introduced Ataru as an agent for some industrial and aviation product. Below is Hadianto's letter published in the website www.airshow.ru.
....Recently also we have been appointing as one of registered vendor for our Indonesia Arms (Air Force, Army ad Navy). Recently we are mostly focusing in Air Force area. With our good performance by completing our contracts successfully inclusive of sold one VIP Boeing Aircraft to Indonesia Air Force and supporting by our aggressive marketing team that approaching in daily basis, we have been completing more than 15 contracts in the passed 2 years. Refer to our record to deliver a used VIP aircraft made our customer give us more attention and opportunity. We do believe we could develop you business opportunity in Indonesia. So herewith we would propose you to consider us as one of your sales arm for Indonesia Air Force. Refer to above matter, kindly advise us the possibility to get support for purchase and or repair of AL-31F engine for Su-27 Flanker that own by IDAF. Looking forward to hear best news from you soon. we would send immediately all the necessary legal document and authorization vendor from Indonesia Arms once you need it.
Best regards, PT. Ataru Indonesia Hadianto Djoko Managing Director .
It's clear from this letter that Ataru is not just dealing with radar, but arms-sale in general, even though in www.asianproducts.com Ataru claimed itself as manufacturer of blood circuit for artificial kidneys and other medical equipments.
But Foreign Affairs Ministry denied government's involvement in the transaction. What's actually happen in US?
Below is the article of Ken Kobayashi from The Honolulu Advertiser published Tuesday (April 11) under the title Arms-sale conspiracy claimed.
Two men were charged here yesterday with conspiring to export military aircraft parts to a company in Indonesia in violation of the federal Arms Export Control Act. Ignatius Ferdinandus Soeharli, also known as "Igna," and David Beecroft were charged with conspiring to export the items without a required license from the U.S. State Department. They were charged after they arrived here Friday and met with representatives from an unnamed U.S.-based company to discuss the transactions and also view samples of machine guns and military aircraft parts, according to an affidavit by an immigration and customs enforcement agent.
Soeharli arrived from Indonesia and Beecroft from Singapore, the document said. Undercover federal agents met with the two men as well as two others who were indicted by a federal grand jury in Michigan last week on charges of money-laundering and violating the same federal law, the affidavit said. The two men indicted by the grand jury are Ibrahim Bin Amran and Hadianto Djoko Djuliarso, according to the affidavit.
During the meetings here, Soeharli told representatives from the U.S.-based company he was the financier for the transactions, the affidavit said. The representatives also showed the men samples of MP-5 machine guns and later showed them military aircraft parts that were to be exported, the document said. Amran earlier said the company purchasing the military items was Ataru Indonesia, which was owned by Djuliarso, according to the document. Federal prosecutors here did not return calls for comment on the case.
The affidavit also said:
On Jan. 5, Amran asked the U.S.-based company for a quote on 882 Heckler & Koch MP-5 submachine guns, 800 H&K 9mm handguns and 16 H&K sniper rifles. Amran was quoted a price of $3.3 million and he said he wanted to buy and export the weapons even if he could not get a license.
On March 22, federal agents received confirmation that Djuliarso and Amran ordered various military parts, including a radar assembly transmitter, antenna, amplifier, track-gate error and lock-on detector, and gyroscope. Eight days later, the two sent $447,000 to the company as partial payment.
On Wednesday, Amran sent an e-mail to the company saying "everybody will be arriving on the same flight."
On Friday, the four men facing federal charges arrived at the airport. During a meeting Friday, Amran read off a request for a quote on how many parts for a machine gun he needed for his order.
On Saturday, the company representatives showed the four men facing charges MP-5 machine guns. The representatives also made clear that a license is required for exporting the items. The company representatives and the four men later viewed military aircraft parts that had been ordered.
Soeharli arrived from Indonesia and Beecroft from Singapore, the document said. Undercover federal agents met with the two men as well as two others who were indicted by a federal grand jury in Michigan last week on charges of money-laundering and violating the same federal law, the affidavit said. The two men indicted by the grand jury are Ibrahim Bin Amran and Hadianto Djoko Djuliarso, according to the affidavit.
During the meetings here, Soeharli told representatives from the U.S.-based company he was the financier for the transactions, the affidavit said. The representatives also showed the men samples of MP-5 machine guns and later showed them military aircraft parts that were to be exported, the document said. Amran earlier said the company purchasing the military items was Ataru Indonesia, which was owned by Djuliarso, according to the document. Federal prosecutors here did not return calls for comment on the case.
The affidavit also said:
On Jan. 5, Amran asked the U.S.-based company for a quote on 882 Heckler & Koch MP-5 submachine guns, 800 H&K 9mm handguns and 16 H&K sniper rifles. Amran was quoted a price of $3.3 million and he said he wanted to buy and export the weapons even if he could not get a license.
On March 22, federal agents received confirmation that Djuliarso and Amran ordered various military parts, including a radar assembly transmitter, antenna, amplifier, track-gate error and lock-on detector, and gyroscope. Eight days later, the two sent $447,000 to the company as partial payment.
On Wednesday, Amran sent an e-mail to the company saying "everybody will be arriving on the same flight."
On Friday, the four men facing federal charges arrived at the airport. During a meeting Friday, Amran read off a request for a quote on how many parts for a machine gun he needed for his order.
On Saturday, the company representatives showed the four men facing charges MP-5 machine guns. The representatives also made clear that a license is required for exporting the items. The company representatives and the four men later viewed military aircraft parts that had been ordered.
I think, Indonesian military should explain the whole affair, right from the start of the appointment of Ataru Indonesia and other brokers for the sake of transparency. General beliefs, military is the most corrupt institution, but always manage to escape corruption charges. President SBY, a respected military figure, should proof that this belief is wrong.
Legislators had approved military budget for 2006 at around US$3 billion, 30 percent increase from last year, a huge amount of money that needs public scrutiny over how the military spend that.
Late last month, Indonesian Ambassador to Rusia Susanto Pudjomartono disclosed Russian offer of US$1 billion loan to Indonesia for Sukhoi fighter jets and other military equipments. The arms purchase will also include helicopters and submarines. A bigger team of defense officials were scheduled to visit Russia this month for further discussion.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono plans to visit Russia in June to discuss defense cooperation and the purchase of more Sukhoi fighter jets (at least 12) from Moscow.
But South Korea and China have also made similar offers with Russia especially on submarine supply under a Indonesian Navy's plan to acquire 12 of them before 2024.
Back to the question, is the recent arrest of four businessmen a conspiracy of arms-sale? With whom? How about Indonesian legislator accusation that these guys were trapped by US officers?
Attorneys for Soeharli, Amran and Djuliarso declined on-camera interviews with KGMB9, but all said their clients will enter pleas of not guilty and plan to fight any charges against them.
Attorney Alvin Nishimura represents Djuliarso. Nishimura says Djuliarso is a registered purchasing agent for the Indonesian Air Force and he was merely trying to purchase items for the Indonesian government. Nishimura says Djuliarso was not trying to do anything illegal, but the indictment is specific.
Labels: President SBY
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posted by yosef at 8:39 AM
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I think you shouldn't use black color against a dark blue background. Kinda hard to read and I lost interest immediate when I had to labor to read the darker text. Many some brighter font color instead?
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