SBY wants man behind Munir's murder nabbed<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered law enforcement
\nofficials to continue their investigation into the murder of
\nhuman rights activist Munir to determine who orchestrated the
\nkilling.<\/p>\n
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said the order,
\ncoming a day after a Garuda pilot was sentenced to 14 years in
\njail for his role in the murder, was specifically addressed to
\nthe police, the National Intelligence Agency and the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office.<\/p>\n
\"It is not easy to unravel the conspiracy behind Munir's
\nmurder, but the President has ordered all relevant institutions
\nto continue investigating the case until the mastermind of the
\nmurder is punished,\" Andi said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Andi said the President delivered his order directly to
\nNational Police chief Gen. Sutanto shortly after a meeting in
\nSurabaya late on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
\"The President said a successful investigation of the case
\nwould determine the credibility of his administration. He
\nunderlined that whoever was responsible for the murder must be
\npunished,\" the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced on Tuesday Garuda
\npilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto to 14 years in jail for his
\npart in Munir's murder.<\/p>\n
The panel of judges said they did not sentence the defendant
\nto life imprisonment, as demanded by the prosecution, because
\nthey believed there were others behind the killing of the rights
\ncampaigner.<\/p>\n
Munir was poisoned aboard a Garuda flight bound for Amsterdam
\nin September last year. He died about two hours before the plane
\nlanded.<\/p>\n
The judges said the murder was likely related to Munir's
\ncriticism of the government, the military and the country's
\nintelligence agencies.<\/p>\n
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto responded to the
\nPresident's order by saying he expected Pollycarpus and the
\npublic to provide authorities with more information about the
\nmurder.<\/p>\n
Sutanto, who took over his post in July, said the police
\ninvestigation was hampered by the fact that they did not have
\naccess to the crime scene.<\/p>\n
Dutch authorities conducted an autopsy on Munir's body and a
\npreliminary investigation into the murder, including questioning
\nseveral witnesses.<\/p>\n
Sutanto, however, said officers were moving ahead with the
\ninvestigation. \"We have made some progress in investigating the
\ncase,\" he was quoted as saying by Antara.<\/p>\n
Separately, human rights activists urged the President to set
\nup an independent team under his direct supervision to oversee
\nthe investigation, saying \"a crime involving this kind of
\nconspiracy could not be solved using traditional methods\".<\/p>\n
They also asked the President to follow up on a report
\nsubmitted to him by a now defunct fact-finding team set up by the
\ngovernment to investigate Munir's murder.<\/p>\n
\"The team recommended that several National Intelligence
\nAgency (BIN) officials be questioned in connection with the
\ncase,\" rights activist Hendardi, who was part of the fact-finding
\nteam, said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
After officially taking over the investigation from the fact-
\nfinding team, the police questioned former BIN deputy chief Maj.
\nGen. (ret) Muchdi Purwopranjono and BIN secretary-general Nurhadi
\nDjazuli. Muchdi testified at Pollycarpus' trial as a witness.<\/p>",
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