Sudisman (1920 – October 1968) was a general secretary of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) and the only PKI leader to be put on trial following the

30 September Movement The Thirtieth of September Movement ( id, Gerakan 30 September, abbreviated as G30S, also known by the acronym Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian Na ...

in 1965. He was sentenced to death and executed. He was the fourth highest-ranking member of the Communist Party of Indonesia's Politburo, and was the only one of the five senior leaders of PKI to be tried. All but one of the ten PKI politburo members were killed. Sudisman tried to reorganize the PKI into an underground movement after other senior leaders were captured and summarily executed. He acted as the leader of the PKI for a short time before his arrest. He was finally arrested in December 1966.

Trial

Sudisman was the highest ranking PKI politburo member to appear before the ''Mahmillub'' (''Mahkamah Militer Luar Biasa'', the Extraordinary Military Tribunal), as the other members had been killed. Sudisman's trial was held in July 1967. Testimonies of Sudisman and other PKI leaders greatly strengthened the case against them in the trial. They more or less admitted their own involvement in a coup attempt. However, they claimed that the

was justified as there had really been a so-called "Council of Generals" that had plotted against

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

to take power after his death, or to depose him. They denied accusations and interpretations that the PKI had been the sole organizer of the coup attempt. Army's and prosecution's version of the events are highly unlikely, and the first initiative for the coup attempt may have come from dissatisfied army officers, despite the PKI leadership's involvement. Sudisman's testimonies gave a plausible explanation that PKI as an organization had not been involved with the coup attempt, and

Dipa Nusantara Aidit Dipa Nusantara Aidit (born Ahmad Aidit; 30 July 1923 – 22 November 1965) was an Indonesian communist politician, who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) from 1951 until his summary execution during the mass ...

had been the person who had acted on his own initiative and plotted with the officers.

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 ...

managed to use Aidit's actions as a justification for the

Indonesian killings of 1965–66 Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

. The resulting elimination of the PKI from Indonesian politics achieved goals of right-wing officers and Muslim extremists who were backed by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Sudisman was executed in October 1968.

References

External links

Defence speech given by Sudisman on 21 July 1967
at the

Marxists Internet Archive Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxists.org) is a non-profit online encyclopedia that hosts a multilingual library (created in 1990) of the works of communist, anarchist, and socialist writers, such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels ...

Speech given by Sudisman in September 1966
at the

{{Communism in Indonesia 1920 births 1968 deaths Indonesian communists Communist Party of Indonesia politicians 20th-century executions by Indonesia Executed communists

Trial

See also

References

External links