As Indonesia swears in Prabowo Subianto as its next president, this writer hopes he is a man true to his word. — Reuters
THE banging noise sounded like thunder. Was I dreaming?
It was 12.30am when I glanced at my bedroom clock. No, it was coming from my apartment door, a frantic pounding that had me confused and scared. Suddenly, I heard the cracking of wood and a flood of people yelling as they rushed in.
It was Oct 7, 2020. I didn’t know who had broken into my apartment, so I locked my bedroom door and made a frantic phone call to a friend.
“Someone’s inside after breaking down my door,” I whispered. I was now in my bathroom, when the window was shattered from the outside and an arm pushed through the broken glass.
I saw a gun and heard frantic screaming. It was difficult to understand what he was saying. But then he fired. Three times. “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” I yelled, in panicked disbelief.
I checked to see if I was hit. I hadn’t been, and then opened the bathroom door to find a large group of men.
They were from Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office, and I learned they had come to arrest me in an investment case that was in the final stage of appeal at the Supreme Court. Before I was bundled into a waiting car, each and every agent lined up to take a selfie with me.
The next morning, I was led into a conference room where the media were waiting. The government said it had “caught a fugitive from justice”, I was told later. I wasn’t given a chance to speak. No interpreter was present. If I had been allowed to say anything, I would have said that neither I nor my attorney had received any detention notice.
The previous court did not order this while my appeal was being deliberated. A “fugitive from justice”? I was on TV every week as a talk show host, going to my office every day from the same apartment where I had lived for 14 years.
That this could happen to someone, let alone a foreign national, was crazy. I wasn’t a terrorist, or even a traffic violator.
Why did it happen? I had my thoughts.
“Without formal notice or due process, especially with the use of force, raises serious concerns about the proper application of judicial authority,” said attorney Reiny Nattasari Latief.
But I knew my case was scheduled to be decided upon soon thereafter. And just three weeks later, the ruling was in. The headline in The Jakarta Post read: “Supreme Court acquits media figure Dalton Tanonaka of all criminal charges”.
I had wanted to believe that Indonesia is a country run by the rule of law. I was extremely thankful for the decision that cleared my name. But the law is enforced by people, and my faith in those in power at the time was extremely shaken by my midnight nightmare.
Now, four years later, a new government is about to be sworn in. I have interviewed Prabowo Subianto, now president-elect, several times over the years.
Among the points he made that have stuck with me until today are: When president Soeharto was forced out of office in 1998, Prabowo said he could have staged a military coup as then-commander of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad). He had the men. He had the weapons. But he didn’t. Because he believed in the Constitution.
Following his self-imposed exile abroad, Prabowo returned and began his public service quest. “I don’t need a job, I don’t need money,” he said.
He said he had an obligation, as someone coming from a privileged family, to help create a fairer economy for everyone.
“I am a soldier,” he said proudly. Meaning, he was born to serve. I am hopeful that as president, Prabowo will stand true to his stated principles, and pray that his beliefs will filter down through the levels of government. Because Indonesia will never reach its long-touted potential as a land of amazing natural and human resources unless its leaders mean what they say.
And prevent shocking midnight raids from happening to anyone in Indonesia. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
Dalton Tanonaka is CEO of Melia Media International.
