TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin announced that he would pursue defense diplomacy in an effort to secure the release of an Indonesian citizen detained by Myanmar’s military junta.
According to Sjafrie, defense diplomacy is more appropriate in this situation because the regime involved is a military government.
“So it’s not military diplomacy,” said Sjafrie when met at the parliament complex in Jakarta on Wednesday, July 9, 2025.
He explained that the military diplomacy previously proposed by the House of Representatives (DPR) would not be effective in Myanmar, as its application differs from Indonesia’s.
Sjafrie added that the Ministry of Defense has been conducting diplomatic efforts in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He emphasized that Myanmar had specifically requested the involvement of the Foreign Ministry.
"I have tried to contact the Myanmar Defense Minister,” he said.
The detention of an Indonesian citizen in Myanmar was first raised by DPR Defense Commission member Abraham Sridjaja during a working meeting with the Foreign Ministry on Monday, June 30.
Abraham revealed that the detainee is an Instagram celebrity accused of financing a rebel group.
Judha Nugraha, Director of Indonesian Citizen Protection at the Foreign Ministry, confirmed that the citizen, identified by the initials AP, was arrested by Myanmar authorities on December 20, 2024.
In a statement released on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, the Foreign Ministry said AP was accused of illegally entering Myanmar and meeting with an armed group deemed illegal by local authorities.
As a result, AP was charged under several laws, including Myanmar’s Anti-Terrorism Law, the 1947 Immigration Law, and Section 17(2) of the Unlawful Associations Act.
AP is currently being held at Insein Prison in Yangon, one of Myanmar’s high-security detention centers operated by the military regime.
Previously, Deputy Speaker of the DPR, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, urged the government to consider “operations other than war” (OMSP) if diplomatic channels fail.
Dasco clarified that OMSP did not mean deploying troops but instead conducting military diplomacy.
“Since Myanmar is under military rule, military-to-military diplomacy could be more coherent. And it can be done,” said Dasco on Friday, July 4, 2025.
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