BIN urged to be more cooperative in Munir case

BIN urged to be more cooperative in Munir case

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) is hindering the
investigation into the murder of rights activist Munir, and the
President and the National Police need to help, the government
fact-finding team says.

Member Asmara Nababan said the team, President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and the National Police and BIN leadership needed a
face-to-face meeting to resolve the problem.

The BIN chief deputy assigned to help the team investigate BIN
officials allegedly involved in the murder, faced too many
protocols, Asmara said.

Improving BIN's cooperation was key to speeding the team's
work, which was supposed to be completed in June, he said.

"In the meeting with the President, BIN chief (Syamsir
Siregar) and National Police chief (Da'i Bachtiar), every party
would be expected to be open and transparent. We would also find
out about the President's commitment to urging government
institutions (to help us)," Asmara said on Tuesday.

The team has repeatedly complained about a lack of cooperation
on the part of BIN into the investigation of last year's
poisoning of Munir.

Asmara on Tuesday also said that the team had refused to
accept a proposal from BIN about how the investigation into its
officials should be conducted.

BIN wanted the questioning of its officials to be conducted at
the agency's office, while the team wanted it be held in its
secretariat at the office of the National Commission on Violence
against Women.

BIN also demanded the questions be written down while the team
wanted them to be asked verbally.

"They said written queries would avoid misinterpretations. But
we prefer to ask questions verbally to get direct responses,"
Asmara said.

"We can't accept it (the BIN proposal) as it is not based on
reasonable considerations."

Asmara said the team would meet Syamsir within the next few
days to talk about the proposal.