BIN attacks team for revealing findings in Munir case<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
As the end of its tenure nears, the fact-finding team probing the
\nmurder of top human rights activist Munir was dealt another blow
\non Wednesday when it was accused of exceeding the scope of its
\njurisdiction.<\/p>\n
State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsir
\nSiregar said the fact-finding team, set up through a presidential
\ndecree, had overstepped its authority by widely disclosing
\ninformation it had collected in the investigation of the murder.<\/p>\n
\"We object to the way the team has worked. The decree says in
\nthe sixth article that the results of its investigation shall be
\nreported only to the President, thus we question its wide
\npublication,\" he said after a closed-door meeting with House of
\nRepresentatives Commission I on defense and foreign affairs.<\/p>\n
Syamsir did not specify any findings or publication by the
\nteam. His comment, however, came just one day after the team
\ndisclosed that they had discovered documents setting out four
\nmethods to murder Munir, a staunch critic of the military.<\/p>\n
Syamsir said he had never seen any such documents.<\/p>\n
BIN has been closely linked to the murder as Pollycarpus
\nBudihari Priyanto, the only suspect to be detained so far, is
\nbelieved to be a BIN member.<\/p>\n
A team finding revealed that Pollycarpus, a Garuda Indonesia
\npilot, had made numerous telephone calls before and after the
\nmurder to a BIN official.<\/p>\n
Munir was killed on board a Garuda flight in September last
\nyear on his way from Jakarta to Amsterdam. An autopsy conducted
\nby the Dutch government revealed he was poisoned. Pollycarpus
\nwas on the same flight (as an off-duty pilot) when the murder
\ntook place, and he offered Munir his business class seat.<\/p>\n
Syamsir added that his agency was still working closely with
\nthe fact-finding team, but the results were confidential.<\/p>\n
Syamsir's criticism was echoed by two legislators from the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Effendi Simbolon
\nand Permadi.<\/p>\n
Both said that the team had exceeded it mandate in
\ninvestigating the case. They said the team was simply tasked with
\ncollecting data and reporting its findings to the police and the
\nPresident.<\/p>\n
Separately, former BIN chief A.M. Hendropriyono said he was
\ndisappointed after the team failed to appear on Wednesday upon
\nhis invitation to discuss his alleged involvement in the murder.<\/p>\n
Hendropriyono, a PDI-P member and close aide of PDI-P leader
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, is alleged to have known about the murder
\n-- an allegation he has denied so far.<\/p>\n
He himself has failed to fulfill three summonses sent by the
\nteam.<\/p>\n
Team member Asmara Nababan said on Tuesday that the team would
\nnot fulfill the invitation because Hendropriyono had requested
\nthat it exclude two members -- Munir's close friends Rachlan
\nNashidik and Usman Hamid.<\/p>\n
Hendropriyono is suing the two for defamation.<\/p>\n
\"I feel disappointed with the team because it didn't come,
\nwhich means that it does not respect the presidential decree that
\nassigns them to collect facts,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the team should have come to meet him privately
\ninstead of sending a summons.<\/p>\n
\"Collecting facts is not done by summoning people. Even I
\nnever summoned people when I was the BIN chief. They should be
\nproactive,\" said Hendropriyono.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bin-attacks-team-for-revealing-findings-in-munir-case-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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