Ex-Bin chief lobbies House over Munir probe<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Former National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Gen. (ret) A.M.
\nHendropriyono has further displayed his aversion to a fact-
\nfinding team set up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
\nprobe the death of human rights activist Munir, and equivocated
\nas to whether he would fulfill a summons from the team.<\/p>\n
One day after he reported two members of the team, Rachland
\nNashidik and Usman Hamid, to the police for alleged defamation,
\nHendropriyono on Monday lobbied members of the separate case
\nmonitoring team formed by the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
Hendropriyono said he respected both the House and the police,
\nand would definitely appear before the two institutions if they
\never summoned him for questioning.<\/p>\n
\"But if (the President's fact-finding team) summons me, we'll
\nhave to see about that,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The fact-finding team has linked both BIN and Hendropriyono to
\nthe death of Munir, who died of arsenic poisoning aboard a Garuda
\nflight to Amsterdam on Sept. 7 last year.<\/p>\n
Police have named three Garuda crew members as suspects,
\nincluding pilot\/aviation security officer Pollycarpus Budihari
\nPriyanto, who the team found had been recruited by BIN.<\/p>\n
The team was established on the basis of Presidential
\nRegulation No. 111\/2004 signed on Dec. 23 last year, enabling the
\nteam to question people thought to be connected with the case, to
\nmonitor the police probe, and to recommend suspects.<\/p>\n
Hendropriyono was evasive when asked whether he would appear
\nbefore the fact-finding team, saying that he had yet to receive a
\nsummons.<\/p>\n
\"Where's the summons letter? Send it to me. I don't answer
\nhypothetical questions, such as (would I attend) if I received a
\nsummons,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hendropriyono said his visit to the House was to convey to
\nlegislators that statements made by two fact-finding team members
\nwere \"completely biased and irrelevant.\"<\/p>\n
\"They said that I had flown to the United States to seek
\nprotection. They also wanted to seek help from the (Indonesian)
\nforeign ministry to trace me. I've been here all along.<\/p>\n
\"As a person who has nothing to do with the death of Munir,
\nI'm really perturbed by their statements,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Similar sentiments were expressed by Hendropriyono's lawyer
\nSyamsu Djalal, who is a former military police chief.<\/p>\n
\"And I'm sorry to say this, but who's this Munir anyway that a
\npresidential regulation had to be issued? A lot of people die,
\nbut no regulations are ever made (for them),\" he said.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the House's monitoring team Taufikurahman Saleh
\nsaid they planned to hold a hearing with Hendropriyono some time
\nthis week to seek clarification about his position in the murder
\ncase.<\/p>\n
Separately, Rachland said the fact-finding team would send a
\nsummons to Hendropriyono on Tuesday at the latest for questioning
\nscheduled for Monday next week.<\/p>\n
\"We will summon Hendropriyono as an individual and hope to
\nhear his clarifications about the case,\" Rachland, an executive
\nof human rights watchdog Imparsial, said on Monday.<\/p>\n
The team also plans to seek clarifications from other BIN
\nofficials who were active at the time of Munir's murder.<\/p>\n
\"Instead of filing a report against us with the police, it
\nwould be better for Hendropriyono just to clarify the matter with
\nthe team. And to avoid suspicion, he should fulfill our summons,\"
\nsaid Rachland.<\/p>\n
The team would not stop their investigations into Munir's
\ndeath despite the complaint to the police, Usman added.<\/p>",
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