Susilo aims to speed up probe into Munir case<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjadja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised to speed up the
\ninvestigation into the murder of top human rights campaigner
\nMunir Said Thalib amid strong criticism at home and abroad.<\/p>\n
State Secretary Sudi Silalahi said that to accelerate the
\nprobe, the President himself would hold a regular meeting with
\nthe fact-finding team tasked to help investigate the case, the
\nNational Police, and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).<\/p>\n
\"The President will directly lead (the meeting) to ensure that
\neach related institution functions,\" Sudi said after a meeting
\nbetween the fact-finding team and Susilo.<\/p>\n
According to Sudi, Susilo also thinks that the probe has not
\nprovided satisfactory results since it was set up in December
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
The President has received strong criticism from activists at
\nhome and abroad because there has been no significant progress in
\nthe ongoing investigation into Munir's murder, which has been
\nrunning for six months.<\/p>\n
Suciwati, Munir's wife, earlier complained about the
\nsluggishness of the National Police in the investigation of the
\nmurder case despite help given by the fact-finding team.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, New York-based advocacy group Human Rights First
\nurged the government of Indonesia to live up to its pledges, AFP
\nreported.<\/p>\n
\"President Yudhoyono has stated that the Munir investigation
\nis a test case of how much Indonesia has changed,\" the group said
\nin a statement.<\/p>\n
Munir, a rights campaigner who had often criticized the
\nauthorities and military for human rights abuses in various parts
\nof the country, was poisoned in September last year on board a
\nGaruda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam as shown by an autopsy
\nreport that revealed excessive level of arsenic in his body.<\/p>\n
Three Garuda officials had been declared suspects in the case
\nto date. One is a Garuda pilot named Pollycarpus Budihari
\nPriyanto, who was on the same flight as Munir and offered his
\nbusiness class seat to Munir during the Jakarta-Singapore trip.
\nThere have been rumors that Pollycarpus was a BIN agent.<\/p>\n
The fact-finding team and the police are now under pressure to
\nunveil the mastermind behind the murder case.<\/p>\n
But the fact-finding team has often faced difficulties in
\nseeking information from key people who have been reluctant to
\ncooperate with the team. Brig. Gen. Marsudhi Hanafi, the head of
\nthe team, admitted this situation.<\/p>\n
The former secretary of BIN Nurhadi Djazuli, for instance, had
\nearlier refused to meet the team as he claimed it had no
\nauthority to question him.<\/p>\n
Nurhadi, who was recently appointed as Indonesian Ambassador
\nto Nigeria, finally met the team on Tuesday following widespread
\ncriticism including from lawmakers.<\/p>\n
He came to the National Police headquarters for questioning as
\na witness on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Asked about the reluctance of state institutions to help the
\nfact-finding team despite the President's directive, Sudi
\nresponded, \"There are no such difficulties. It's only a matter of
\ncoordination.\"<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the President summoned on Wednesday Coordinating
\nMinister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi
\nSucipto, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin and
\nAttorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh to seek ways to speed up the
\ninvestigation into the murder case.<\/p>\n
Strangely, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar and BIN
\nhead Maj. Gen. Syamsir Siregar, whose institutions are directly
\ninvolved directly in the probe were not present in the meeting.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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