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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Conflict & Security

Indonesian lawmakers urge government to clarify reports of citizens joining Russian military

From Republika · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Indonesian lawmaker Sukamta urged the government to verify reports that eight citizens had been recruited into the Russian military.
  • He said officials should establish the individuals' identities, locations, citizenship, recruitment process and current ties to the military before drawing legal conclusions.
  • Sukamta called for checks through diplomatic, intelligence and other official channels, warning that repeated media reports may trace back to a single source.

Indonesian lawmaker Sukamta has urged the government to establish the facts behind reports that eight Indonesians were recruited to join Russia's military before discussing possible legal consequences.

Sukamta, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission I, said reporting on the case had advanced while basic questions remained unanswered. He cautioned against quickly describing the people as mercenaries or discussing the possibility of legal sanctions and loss of citizenship.

Now the term mercenaries has appeared, and legal threats and loss of citizenship are already being discussed. In my view, we should not rush there. Clarify the facts first.

· SukamtaThe Indonesian lawmaker warned against discussing sanctions before verifying the reports.

The government, he said, should determine who the individuals are, whether they are Indonesian citizens, where they are now and whether they actually joined the Russian military. Officials should also establish how they reached Russia and whether they initially enlisted as soldiers, were recruited after traveling abroad or accepted what they thought was another kind of job.

These basic matters must be clear first. We should not reach legal conclusions while we are still seeking the facts.

· SukamtaHe said officials needed to establish the identities and circumstances of the alleged recruits.

“These basic matters must be clear first. We should not reach legal conclusions while we are still seeking the facts,” Sukamta said.

He said information emerging during the Russia-Ukraine war required especially careful verification, particularly when it originated with a party involved in the conflict. Multiple reports also did not necessarily represent multiple independent sources, he said, because one outlet's report could be repeated by others.

Information from a party involved in a war can certainly be heard. It may be correct. But our task is to verify it ourselves.

· SukamtaHe called for independent verification of information linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Sukamta called on the government to use the Foreign Ministry, Indonesian diplomatic missions abroad, intelligence agencies and other relevant institutions to investigate. If it is eventually proven that Indonesian citizens entered a foreign military service without prior presidential permission, he said the legal issue would need to be addressed under Indonesia's 2006 Citizenship Law. The article ends before giving his full view on how that provision should apply.

Many media outlets reporting the same source does not mean that we have many sources.

· SukamtaHe cautioned that repeated coverage could create a misleading appearance of corroboration.
About this summary

Originally published by Republika in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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