Condolences pour in for Munir's family

Condolences pour in for Munir's family

Tiarma Siboro and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Condolences poured in on Wednesday for the family and relatives
of top human rights campaigner Munir who died on board a Garuda
flight to Amsterdam, while the precise cause of his death
remained a mystery.

"We have lost one of the most persistent fighters for
democracy, someone who never stopped struggling for what he
believed was true. He has contributed his understanding and
comprehension of human rights to the country," President Megawati
Soekarnoputri said.

"I have also expressed my deep sympathy for Munir's bereaved
relatives," she said before departing for Brunei Darussalam.

Her husband, Taufik Kiemas, visited the Munir family home in
Bekasi on Wednesday evening to pay his last respects.

Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said
that no Indonesian officials had been allowed to see Munir's
corpse, which was kept under close guard by the Schiphol airport
authorities while awaiting for an autopsy to be performed.

"However, we are cooperating with the Netherlands authorities
in handling this matter," he added.

Activist Asmara Nababan said that a team of Dutch doctors had
begun an autopsy on Munir, and that it would take around two
days.

"Curiosity about Munir's sudden death is rife, and it has
encouraged doctors in the Netherlands to conduct an autopsy with
or without the consent of his family," he told The Jakarta Post..

Asmara said Munir's body could only be flown to Indonesia on
Saturday at the earliest.

Munir's wife Suciwati, his father and fellow activist Usman
Hamid left for the Netherlands on Wednesday night to bring
Munir's body home for burial in his hometown of Malang, East
Java.

Deepest condolences were also expressed by the Indonesian
Military, which was often the target of staunch criticism from
Munir over its repressive policies.

"We can only pray that God will bless his family. I know that
during his life, Munir never stopped criticizing us (the
military), but we accepted such criticism with an open heart,"
TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin told the Post.

Dozens of rights activists along with victims of violence
gathered at the offices of human rights watchdog, Impartial,
which Munir chaired, and prayed to mourn his death on Tuesday.

Colleagues who worked with him in the Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), which Munir founded in
1988, also held a gathering to pay their last respects to him.

Smitha Notosusanto of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro)
called on all Indonesian people to fly the national flag at half-
mast for a week to mourn the death of Munir at the age of 38.

Meanwhile, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the
police would investigate the cause of Munir's death.

"The death happened on board a Garuda Indonesia plane. That
means that the incident took place in Indonesian territory. We
will conduct an investigation pending the autopsy report from a
hospital in the Netherlands," Da'i added.