Waiting for justice for Munir's murderers<\/p>\n
Patrick Guntensperger, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It is perhaps appropriate that the verdict in the Munir murder
\ncase comes just as the year 2005 draws to a close. The fact that
\nGaruda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto' sentence of 14 years
\nfor the cold blooded and cowardly murder by poison of a highly
\nrespected human rights activist comes at this time gives us pause
\nto reflect on how our expectations have changed over the last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Nobody who has followed the case, even cursorily, seriously
\nbelieves that Pollycarpus acted alone. That the airline security
\nofficer, with ties to the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), was
\ninspired to such an act by his having taken offense at the
\nvictim's criticisms of the state doesn't even pass the laugh
\ntest. Indeed, even Pollycarpus claims that he is a \"scapegoat\".<\/p>\n
The judges, in their decision, stopped short of pointing to
\nBIN as being directly involved in the murder but were clear that
\nthey were not satisfied that the matter has now been laid to
\nrest. Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Paulus Purwoko has expressed
\nthe intention of the police not only to continue the
\ninvestigation, but to widen its scope, to \"see if others were
\nalso involved in Munir's death\".<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, despite former BIN chief Hendropriyono's repeated
\ndefiance of a summons by the team investigating the murder,
\ncurrent BIN chief Syamsir Siregar blames the police for their
\nfailure to find the masterminds behind the murder. After
\nHendropriyono's numerous refusals to cooperate with the
\ninvestigation, citing reasons from a lack of politeness in the
\nwording of the summonses to more pressing business elsewhere,
\nSiregar has gone on record as saying, \"We supported and
\nfacilitated them in this case, but the results have been fairly
\ndisappointing\". Perhaps Siregar is demonstrating a hitherto well
\nhidden ironic sense of humor.<\/p>\n
A year ago there was a sense that such a high profile case,
\ncombined with the new President's commitment to eradicating
\ncorruption and other abuses of power, would tear the lid off an
\nentrenched rot in the corridors of power. In this space, I wrote
\na piece that suggested that Munir's death might even be seen as a
\nfinal sacrifice that would have a far-reaching impact on reform
\nin this country. That was a time of optimism, a honeymoon period
\nin which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was seen as the great
\nhope for rapid and long overdue changes to the status quo.<\/p>\n
Then came a year that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain
\nmight have described as our annum horribilus. The tsunami hit on
\nDec. 26. World oil prices skyrocketed. Bird flu became an issue.
\nThe Schappelle Corby soap opera caught the attention of the
\nworld. The Nias Island earthquake gave us a sense of deja vu. The
\nterrorist threat continued to grow and peaked (thus far) this
\nyear in the second cluster of Bali suicide bombings. Inflation
\nclimbed to over 18 %. One crisis after another occupied the
\npresident's time.<\/p>\n
But along with the crises came the gradual erosion of
\noptimism. The hopes held for a radical change for the better in
\nIndonesia did not go out with a bang, or even a whimper, but
\nrather, withered by attrition. The sweeping clean-up of systemic
\ncorruption failed to materialize.<\/p>\n
Certainly a number of high-profile bandits have been
\nprosecuted and convicted, but to be realistic, they were pretty
\nlow-hanging fruit. There is a pervasive sense that the
\nconvictions were little more than a few bones thrown on a pro
\nforma basis. The surface of the problem has barely been
\nscratched, public sentiment goes, while the business of the
\nsystematic pilferage of the people's assets proceeds as usual.<\/p>\n
Susilo, at first seen as a methodical consensus builder, has
\ncome to be seen as indecisive. His deliberative approach to
\naddressing critical issues is perceived as wishy-washy; note his
\nfundamentally correct, but insufficiently far reaching \"mini
\ncabinet reshuffle\".<\/p>\n
It might be reasonable to argue that expectations merely
\nbecame more realistic. Perhaps one year into the first directly
\nelected Indonesian president's term, we are as far along the road
\nas we could reasonably have hoped. Indeed, Susilo has suggested
\nthat the first year has been one of consolidation, of setting the
\nstage for the sweeping measures that true reform demands. As the
\nnew year approaches, Susilo still commands sufficient goodwill
\nand carries enough credibility that when he tells us that next
\nyear, real progress will be made, people don't dismiss it as
\nempty rhetoric.<\/p>\n
That goodwill is not inexhaustible, however. If Susilo's
\ncredibility is to survive, if real change is to come, if Susilo
\nis not to become a mere footnote to Indonesian history, it is
\ntime to live up the hope he inspired when he was given his
\noverwhelming mandate. The time has come for Susilo to live up to
\nour expectations and to fulfill our hopes. While we follow the
\nsputtering Munir case, we will see if it fizzles and dies. If it
\ndoes, so will the hopes of Indonesians for transparent,
\naccountable and truly democratic governance.<\/p>\n
The writer is a consultant with Van Zorge, Heffernan and
\nAssociates, a Jakarta-based political risk consultancy. The
\nopinions expressed are his own. He may be reached at
\npatrickg@vzh.co.id<\/p>",
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