Munir case still far from over<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The fact-finding team probing last year's murder of human rights
\ncampaigner Munir has completed its work and submitted a report of
\nits findings to the President, but it is unlikely that the high-
\nprofile case will be solved quickly.<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not immediately order
\nthe National Police to follow up the team's report that named
\nseveral National Intelligence Agency (BIN) officials as suspects
\nin the murder.<\/p>\n
Instead, Susilo distributed copies of the report to National
\nPolice chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, Indonesian Military chief Gen.
\nEndriartono Sutarto, BIN head Syamsir Siregar and Minister of
\nJustice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin, to study.<\/p>\n
\"A meeting will be held to discuss and review the report (with
\nthe President),\" Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi said here on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Da'i Bachtiar promised last week that he would form a team to
\nfollow up the recommendations given by the government-sanctioned
\nteam in order to speed up the investigation into Munir's case.<\/p>\n
However, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis
\ntold The Jakarta Post on Monday that there was no sign that such
\na police team would be set up soon.<\/p>\n
\"We've been busy preparing for the Bhayangkara (National
\nPolice's anniversary) Day in the last few days,\" Zainuri said.<\/p>\n
Apart from the police's anniversary celebration, the
\nreplacement of Da'i by Comr. Gen. Sutanto may further delay the
\ninvestigation into Munir's death.<\/p>\n
Sutanto, the current director of the National Narcotics Agency
\n(BNN), is expected to replace Da'i ahead of or during the
\nanniversary day on July 1.<\/p>\n
The fact-finding team has said several BIN agents were
\ninvolved in the Munir case but refused to name them. However, the
\nreport submitted to the President reportedly mentioned their
\nnames.<\/p>\n
The report was completed, even though former BIN chief
\nAbdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono and several of his former
\nsubordinates defied summonses for questioning by the team.<\/p>\n
Munir, who was a cofounder of two human rights organizations
\nKontras and Imparsial, died aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight from
\nJakarta to Amsterdam on Sept. 7 last year.<\/p>\n
An autopsy conducted by Dutch authorities revealed that Munir
\ndied due to arsenic poisoning.<\/p>\n
The police have only named Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari
\nPriyanto -- who is alleged to be a BIN agent -- flight attendants
\nOedi Irianto and Yeti Susmiyarti as suspects.<\/p>\n
Separately, Garuda's lawyer Mohammad Assegaf said that there
\nwas no new evidence found in the reconstruction of Munir's murder
\non board a Garuda plane from Jakarta to Amsterdam.<\/p>\n
The case reenactment was held on Friday in a hangar belonging
\nto the Garuda maintenance facility at the Soekarno Hatta airport,
\nand was closed to the public.<\/p>\n
Assegaf said that there was simply no connection between his
\nclient, Pollycarpus, and Munir's poisoning since Pollycarpus'
\nrole in the flight was only to offer his business class seat to
\nMunir during the first leg of the flight from Jakarta to
\nSingapore.<\/p>\n
\"I believe the police have difficulty linking Pollycarpus to
\nthe poisoning. Besides, the food and drink trolley was sealed
\nshut in the flight, so there was no possibility that Oedi and
\nYeti or even Pollycarpus could have put poison into Munir's
\nmeal,\" Assegaf argued.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/munir-case-still-far-from-over-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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