Lieutenant General Ismail Saleh (7 November 1926 – 21 October 2008) was Prosecutor General and later Minister of Justice of Indonesia.
Biography
Saleh was born in
Pati,
Central Java
Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in t ...
on 7 November 1926. He graduated from a school for
native Indonesians
Native Indonesians, also known as ''Pribumi'' (), are Indonesians whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago, distinguished from Indonesians of known (partial) foreign descent, like Chinese Indonesians (Tionghoa), Arab Indonesians, India ...
in 1941. Four years later, he graduated from the Middle School of Agriculture, and in 1950 he graduated from high school; during high school he enrolled in the army.
His first position in the army was in intelligence, serving with Third Division in
Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...
. In 1948, he transferred to the Ronggolawe Squad of Fifth Division in Pati and
Wonosobo
Wonosobo Regency ( jv, ꦑꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦮꦤꦱꦧ, Kabupatèn Wanasaba) is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency ( id, kabupaten) in Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Wonosobo, located at , about 120 km fr ...
. After finishing his education, he switched to the legal division in 1950. Rising through the ranks, by 1964 he was mid-level officer in the investigative division.
In 1967 Saleh became active in politics, serving as Cabinet Presidium Secretary from 1967 to 1968. This was followed by posts as Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Government Administration in 1972, Cabinet Secretary in 1978, and Investment Coordinating Board Chairman from 1979 to 1981. From 1976 to 1979, he also led the ''
Antara
Antara is an Indonesian news agency organized as a statutory corporation. It is the country's national news agency, supplying news reports to many domestic media organizations. It is the only organization authorized to distribute news material ...
'' news agency.
On 9 February 1981, with the passing of Presidential Decision No. 32/M of 1981, Saleh replaced
Ali Said
Ali Sa'id Sheik Hassan, also referred to as Ali Sa'id Hassan Awale and Ali Said (died 17 June 2009), was the chief of police of Mogadishu and a commander of security forces during the war in Somalia, in which he was killed by sniper fire in June ...
as Prosecutor General of Indonesia; Said was made
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
. He was one of the "Three Punakawan" (a reference to the
clown servants of heroes in ''
wayang
, also known as ( jv, ꦮꦪꦁ, translit=wayang), is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originating from the Indonesian island of Java. refers to the entire dramatic show. Sometimes the leather puppet itself is referred to as . Perfor ...
'' tradition) with the
Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
Mujono
Mujono (1927–1984) was the sixth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia as well as the 16th Minister of Law and Human Rights. His appointment to both posts began a line of former military officials predominating in Indonesia's lega ...
and Ali Said; the nickname was based on their perceived enthusiasm for upholding the law. Saleh himself was known to frequently hold surprise inspections of prosecutors' offices, later being quoted as saying "if we want society to be well-ordered, our law enforcement institutions must be likewise first."
Saleh then served as Minister of Justice from 19 March 1983 through 17 March 1993, in the
Fourth and
Fifth Development Cabinet
The Fifth Development Cabinet ( id, Kabinet Pembangunan V) was the Indonesian Cabinet which served under President Suharto and Vice President Sudharmono from March 1988 until March 1993. It was formed after Suharto was elected to a 5th term as ...
s. After leaving the government, he continued to write opinion pieces occasionally for national papers; his pieces were often written in retaliation to groups belittling former president
Suharto
Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
.
In 2004, Saleh was diagnosed with a brain tumour, which was successfully treated. However, in June 2008 he suffered a relapse, and he died of cancer at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital on 21 October 2008. The
viewing was held on 22 October in South
Kemang
Kemang is a neighborhood in southern part of Jakarta, Indonesia. The area is located mostly in Bangka subdistrict of Mampang Prapatan and partly within Pejaten subdistrict of Pasar Minggu. The main area of Kemang is marked by the roads of Kemang ...
,
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
, and attended by national figures such as President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to by his initials SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party ...
, First Lady
Ani Yudhoyono
Kristiani Herrawati Yudhoyono (6 July 1952 – 1 June 2019), more commonly known as Ani Yudhoyono, was an Indonesian political scientist, who was the wife of former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady of Indonesia from ...
, Minister of Justice Andi Matalatta, and Prosecutor General
Hendarman Supandji. Later that day, Saleh was given a
military funeral
A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...
in Gunung Giri Family Cemetery in
Cirebon
Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central Java ...
,
West Java
West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
.
Awards
Saleh was given numerous honours, from both the Indonesian government and foreign governments. Among his awards are the Bintang Gerilya, the Bintang Mahaputra Adi Pradana, the Bintang Kartika Eka Paksi, and the Bintang Jasa Pratama from Indonesia, Commander in the
Order of the Crown from
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, Grand Cordon of the
Order of the Sacred Treasure
The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...
from
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and
Order of Abdulaziz al Saud
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
Level III from
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
.
Personal life
Saleh was married to Elly Djoharia. Together they had three children.
Saleh was known as a fan of
bonsai
Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...
and
suiseki.
Notes
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saleh, Ismail
1926 births
2008 deaths
Attorneys General of Indonesia
Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure
Deaths from brain cancer in Indonesia
People from Pati Regency
Ministers of law and human rights of Indonesia