Dutch parliament supports investigation of Munir case
Dutch parliament supports investigation of Munir case
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Dutch parliament on Thursday pledged to push its
government to closely observe the ongoing investigation of the
murder of prominent Indonesian human rights activist Munir.
Two members of the Indonesian Human Rights Working Group,
Rafendy and Choirul Anam, along with Munir's wife, Suciwati, met
with members of the Dutch parliament recently to discuss the
progress of the Munir fact-finding team's work.
"They (members of parliament) have expressed their support for
the team by pressing the Dutch government to monitor every step
taken by the Indonesian authorities to bring those responsible
for the murder to justice," Rafendy Jamin, the coordinator of the
Human Rights Working Group told The Jakarta Post by telephone
from the Netherlands.
Rafendy also said that the commission was willing to establish
regular contacts with the team and to attend the trial of
Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, the sole suspect in the murder
case.
Munir was poisoned to death on board a Garuda plane during a
flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam in September last year.
The coalition also held hearings with the Netherlands Forensic
Institute and the Indonesian Embassy on the same day.
"The Institute has expressed its willingness to be called in
to testify to avoid any misinterpretation on their forensic
report," Raffendy said.
Munir's body was examined by experts from the institute, soon
after his body arrived at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam. The
forensic team found 465 milligrams of arsenic in his body.
However, certain body organs belonging to Munir have not been
handed over to the authorities in Indonesia because of the lack
of proper storage equipment in this country.
Separately, a member of the fact finding team, Usman Hamid,
who is also a coordinator of the Indonesian Committee for Missing
Persons, Kontras, said that the State Intelligence Agency (BIN)
had, for a second time, canceled a scheduled meeting with the
team. There have been indications that certain BIN officials were
involved in the murder case.
Usman also said that the team would urge police investigators
to conduct a reenactment now that they had a suspect.
"We've talked to the new Garuda president director, Emirsyah
Satar, and he said that he would arrange for us to do the
reenactment if the police investigators could give them an exact
schedule," Usman said.
However, he added that no formal letter had been sent to the
police investigators about the plan.
He also said that the team would be given access to the
reports drawn up by the Dutch police after their initial
investigation of the poisoning aboard the Garuda plane that
landed at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday handed over the
documents after they were transferred from the Indonesian Embassy
in the Netherlands last week.
"The document is now being translated so we can only wait
until that process is over. Then we can read and study it," Usman
said.(006)
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Dutch parliament on Thursday pledged to push its
government to closely observe the ongoing investigation of the
murder of prominent Indonesian human rights activist Munir.
Two members of the Indonesian Human Rights Working Group,
Rafendy and Choirul Anam, along with Munir's wife, Suciwati, met
with members of the Dutch parliament recently to discuss the
progress of the Munir fact-finding team's work.
"They (members of parliament) have expressed their support for
the team by pressing the Dutch government to monitor every step
taken by the Indonesian authorities to bring those responsible
for the murder to justice," Rafendy Jamin, the coordinator of the
Human Rights Working Group told The Jakarta Post by telephone
from the Netherlands.
Rafendy also said that the commission was willing to establish
regular contacts with the team and to attend the trial of
Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, the sole suspect in the murder
case.
Munir was poisoned to death on board a Garuda plane during a
flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam in September last year.
The coalition also held hearings with the Netherlands Forensic
Institute and the Indonesian Embassy on the same day.
"The Institute has expressed its willingness to be called in
to testify to avoid any misinterpretation on their forensic
report," Raffendy said.
Munir's body was examined by experts from the institute, soon
after his body arrived at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam. The
forensic team found 465 milligrams of arsenic in his body.
However, certain body organs belonging to Munir have not been
handed over to the authorities in Indonesia because of the lack
of proper storage equipment in this country.
Separately, a member of the fact finding team, Usman Hamid,
who is also a coordinator of the Indonesian Committee for Missing
Persons, Kontras, said that the State Intelligence Agency (BIN)
had, for a second time, canceled a scheduled meeting with the
team. There have been indications that certain BIN officials were
involved in the murder case.
Usman also said that the team would urge police investigators
to conduct a reenactment now that they had a suspect.
"We've talked to the new Garuda president director, Emirsyah
Satar, and he said that he would arrange for us to do the
reenactment if the police investigators could give them an exact
schedule," Usman said.
However, he added that no formal letter had been sent to the
police investigators about the plan.
He also said that the team would be given access to the
reports drawn up by the Dutch police after their initial
investigation of the poisoning aboard the Garuda plane that
landed at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday handed over the
documents after they were transferred from the Indonesian Embassy
in the Netherlands last week.
"The document is now being translated so we can only wait
until that process is over. Then we can read and study it," Usman
said.(006)