Letda Sanurip Tembaki Fellow Kopassus For Canceling A Mission In History Today, April 15 1996

Photo illustration (Source: Wikiwand)

JAKARTA - On April 15, 1996, a shooting incident occurred in Timika, Irian Jaya, which is today called Papua. The shootings killed 16 people, including three Kopassus officers, eight ABRI officers and five civilians. The perpetrator of the shooting, Letda Sanurip, was a member of Kopassus.

The shooting took place at Timika Airport. One of the victims of the shooting was Airfast pilot Michael Findlay from New Zealand. Apart from those described above, the shooting also injured eleven other people.

It was reported that 52 bullets were fired from the Sanurip rifles at the victims. Sanurip received return fire from other soldiers at the location.

Sanurip is paralyzed by a shot in the leg. At that time, the head of the ABRI Information Center, Brigadier General Amir Syarifudin, told the incident that when Sanurip woke up in the morning in the hangar.

After waking up, Sanurip made a scene, causing him to be reprimanded by his colleague. I don't accept it. The reprimand led to the firing of rifle bullets which Sanurip brought at his colleagues.

"After shooting at his colleagues, he ran out of the hangar and opened fire on whoever was there," said Amir.

Revenge Letda Sanurip from Kopassus

Launching Historia, Lieutenant Sanurip is a sniper instructor. He was going to be deployed in surgery.

However, canceled. Sanurip was nevertheless involved. It is said that Sanurip was disappointed. He did not accept it by not being involved.

Sanurip was stressed, one of the reasons that made him fire his bullets blindly. However, ABRI indicated that Sanurip had carried out the shooting because of mental disorders.

The mental disorder appears as the effect of malaria which damages the nervous system. On the other hand, there is a different statement from the former ABRI Chief of General Staff (Kasum) Lieutenant General Soeyono.

According to Soeyono, Sanurip was a sniper and combat shooting trainer who was supposed to be deployed in the area of operation to assist the release of hostages by the Free Papua Organization (OPM). He was disappointed and stressed when he was not involved in the operation.

Major General Theo Syafii regretted the event of 'rampaging' Sanurip. As quoted by Kompas, he said, “If he was a lieutenant, that would be a real surprise. "He should have been able to withstand the psychological pressure he was facing," said Theo Syafii.

In Theo Syafii's eyes, what Sanuri experienced was very common. Kopassus certainly has a lot of human resources (HR) to exploit.

And Sanuri herself. He is actually one of the most instrumental in forming a cadre of snipers to be deployed in the field.

Theo Syafii said, it was so strange to see Sanuri. He should be trained to accept the reality when he is not always ordered to participate in operations.

After the shooting, Sanurip was brought to Jakarta. Benny Siga Butar-butar, in the biography of ABRI's Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Soeyono, entitled Not a Cigarette Butt (2003), explains that the Military Police had difficulty investigating Sanurip.

The investigating team sent by the Military Police Central Commander, Syamsu Djalal, could not enter the Ksatriaan Kopassus to meet Sanurip. He suspected that the then Kopassus Commander General Prabowo Subianto was hiding something.

The ending story of Sanurip's life is different. There is news circulating that Sanurip was executed on April 23, 1997.

However, Soeyono explained that Sanurip died of suicide. Soeyono at that time could not follow the continuation of the investigation of the Sanurip case because he was disabled from the office.

"What I hear next is that Sanurip is experiencing a terrible situation because he committed suicide in his cell," said Soeyono.

Previously the OPM held Lorentz '95 Team hostage. The Lorentz '95 team consisted of eleven Indonesian and British researchers.

The Lorentz '95 team also involved two representatives from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and one representative from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). They were released on May 9, 1996 after 130 days of being held hostage.

* Read other information about HISTORY or read other interesting writings from Putri Ainur Islam.

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