BIN attacks team for revealing findings in Munir case

BIN attacks team for revealing findings in Munir case

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

As the end of its tenure nears, the fact-finding team probing the
murder of top human rights activist Munir was dealt another blow
on Wednesday when it was accused of exceeding the scope of its
jurisdiction.

State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsir
Siregar said the fact-finding team, set up through a presidential
decree, had overstepped its authority by widely disclosing
information it had collected in the investigation of the murder.

"We object to the way the team has worked. The decree says in
the sixth article that the results of its investigation shall be
reported only to the President, thus we question its wide
publication," he said after a closed-door meeting with House of
Representatives Commission I on defense and foreign affairs.

Syamsir did not specify any findings or publication by the
team. His comment, however, came just one day after the team
disclosed that they had discovered documents setting out four
methods to murder Munir, a staunch critic of the military.

Syamsir said he had never seen any such documents.

BIN has been closely linked to the murder as Pollycarpus
Budihari Priyanto, the only suspect to be detained so far, is
believed to be a BIN member.

A team finding revealed that Pollycarpus, a Garuda Indonesia
pilot, had made numerous telephone calls before and after the
murder to a BIN official.

Munir was killed on board a Garuda flight in September last
year on his way from Jakarta to Amsterdam. An autopsy conducted
by the Dutch government revealed he was poisoned. Pollycarpus
was on the same flight (as an off-duty pilot) when the murder
took place, and he offered Munir his business class seat.

Syamsir added that his agency was still working closely with
the fact-finding team, but the results were confidential.

Syamsir's criticism was echoed by two legislators from the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Effendi Simbolon
and Permadi.

Both said that the team had exceeded it mandate in
investigating the case. They said the team was simply tasked with
collecting data and reporting its findings to the police and the
President.

Separately, former BIN chief A.M. Hendropriyono said he was
disappointed after the team failed to appear on Wednesday upon
his invitation to discuss his alleged involvement in the murder.

Hendropriyono, a PDI-P member and close aide of PDI-P leader
Megawati Soekarnoputri, is alleged to have known about the murder
-- an allegation he has denied so far.

He himself has failed to fulfill three summonses sent by the
team.

Team member Asmara Nababan said on Tuesday that the team would
not fulfill the invitation because Hendropriyono had requested
that it exclude two members -- Munir's close friends Rachlan
Nashidik and Usman Hamid.

Hendropriyono is suing the two for defamation.

"I feel disappointed with the team because it didn't come,
which means that it does not respect the presidential decree that
assigns them to collect facts," he said.

He said the team should have come to meet him privately
instead of sending a summons.

"Collecting facts is not done by summoning people. Even I
never summoned people when I was the BIN chief. They should be
proactive," said Hendropriyono.