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Introduction.
In their program special "Lacak (Investigate)" TRANS TV in Jakarta on 13 September 2004 aired a story
on the subject,
raising questions and doubts regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of Hartono in Jakarta on
6 January 1971, officially proclaimed a suicide. He was found with a shot to the back of his head.
Wife Grace Hartono is convinced that he did not commit suicide and wants this stigma cleared from his record.
Her conviction is openly shared by his fellow officers, friends and family.
The circumstances do not support the official "suicide" version as insisted upon by Admiral Sudomo,
Navy Chief of Staff at the time of the occurrence.
He was taken to RSPAD the Army Hospital instead of the Navy Hospital which would have been appropriate.
The facts surrounding his death do not support a suicide.
No Visum et repertum has been made available despite continuous requests. To date no official death certificate
has
been issued.
Prominent Navy and Marine officers such as Lt General KKO Ali
Sadikin (ex Governor of DKI Jakarta) and Vice Admiral Rachmat Sumengkar, ex Deputy Chief of Staff of the ALRI
voiced their firm opinion that
" available data do not support the
assertion that Hartono has committed suicide".
In an interview with Trans TV (Sep 2004) Ali Sadikin stated that palace sources told him that Hartono was murdered.
Ex Governor of Jakarta, Ret. Marine Corps Lt General Ali Sadikin told Grace that to his knowledge Hartono did not
commit suicide but was murdered.
When researching the matter I communicated with a wellknown American writer with considerable information on
Indonesia military. His informative books are indication that he had good access to Hankam ( the Indonesian
Defense Ministry). I asked him if, when researching Hankam, he had found any information on the death of Hartono.
His reply was that "the only information I found in a file on Hartono was his biography".
Thank you sir, for the information. But I doubt very much that Hankam will keep a file with only Hartono's
bio in it( Ed.)
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An interesting aspect showing up during my research into the subject is the circulation of rumors that the death
of Hartono is linked to the deaths of 2 other Navy Commanders.
Admiral Martadinata Navy Chief of Staff 1960-1966, died in a helicopter accident 1966;
His successor Admiral Muljadi, Navy Chief of Staff 1966-1969, died (reportedly) from
a heart attack in 1972
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KKO sources expressed their opinion that the unexplained death of Hartono was part of an international
conspiracy
related to the western ambition to win the cold war and have
Indonesia on its side.
This will reviewed on a different page on this website.
I am not an authority on the subject but during my research I found several indications that in the Cold War
period the
3 highest ranking Navy/Marine Commanders in Sukarno's 1960's stood in the way of western
ambitions to control
Indonesian waterways connecting the Indian and Pacific Ocean. Sukarno with his Wawasan
Nusantara (Archipelagic) concept blocked this ambition and was herein supported by the Navy Command.
The West ultimately obtained the desired control after Sukarno's removal as President
followed by the deaths of the 3 Navy Commanders supporting Sukarno's policy,
Martadinata-October 1966, Hartono - January 1971, Muljadi - August 1972.
Declassified US State Department documents
show that Ambassador Green closely followed the
Suharto reshuffle movements and in March 1967 duly reported the expected removal of Admiral Muljadi and
Lt General KKO Hartono from their current positions and plans to make them candidates for ambassadorships.
Those two officers were apparently "subjects of interest" to the US.
(Admiral Martadinata earlier had died unexpectedly October 1966 in a helicopter crash).
Lt General Ali Sadikin told Grace that he was informed that Hartono was murdered.
KKO Commander Lt General Kahpi Suriadiredja in 1977 gave Grace similar information stating that the
secretary of the President told him that Hartono did not commit suicide but was murdered.
Together with Grace I visited (Ret.) KKO Lt General Kahpi in January 2007 at his residence in the
Naval housing complex Pangkalan Jati in Jakarta. He confirmed this statement, but, when questioned,
denied any knowledge of an "international conspiracy" aspect.
It is an interesting and intriguing subject which certainly deserves more in-depth research.
Any information and/or comments on the topic will be greatly welcome and can be send to
Editor.
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