Garuda pilot Pollycarpus charged with poisoning Munir

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

A key suspect in the murder of Munir has been charged with conspiring with two fellow Garuda Indonesia employees to poison the human rights campaigner last year, the indictment says.

The indictment, to be read out when Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto stands trial on Tuesday, specifically says that the suspect poured arsenic into an orange juice offered to Munir during the flight from Jakarta to Singapore on Sept. 6

Pollycarpus' lawyer, Mohammad Assegaf, said on Wednesday the indictment, which he had read, contained "bizarre facts".

"The indictment is pure theory, in that saying the poison was poured into the orange juice. As if they knew that Munir would not choose any other drink offered besides orange juice," Assegaf said.

The indictment says Pollycarpus swapped his business class seat with Munir's economy class seat en route to Singapore in order to facilitate the murder, according to Assegaf.

Pollycarpus, who is a senior Garuda pilot, was on Munir's flight as an aviation security officer.

The indictment says Pollycarpus planned the murder with Garuda cabin crew members Oedi Irianto and Yeti Susmiyarti. The three are the only suspects in the case, but unlike Pollycarpus, Oedi and Yeti remain free.

"Police have been unable to link Pollycarpus to Munir's death. No witnesses saw Pollycarpus put the poison in Munir's drink or meals. I don't know why the prosecutors insist on connecting Pollycarpus with the poisoning," Assegaf said.

Munir, a cofounder of human rights watchdogs Kontras and Imparsial, died two hours before the Garuda plane landed in Amsterdam's Schiphol International Airport on Sept. 7 last year.

An autopsy conducted by Dutch authorities found a lethal amount of arsenic in his body, leading to the conclusion that he had been murdered by poisoning.

The police declared Pollycarpus a suspect in March on charges of facilitating a premeditated murder and document falsification. It is unclear whether the prosecutors will also charge Pollycarpus with assisting the mastermind of the murder.

The indictment is a stark contrast to the report from the government-sanctioned fact-finding team formed to help police probe the case, which said that former and active officials at the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) were involved in the murder.

A new team, chaired by Brig. Gen. Marsudi Hanafi, who led the fact-finding team, is currently investigating the case. Hanafi has refused to divulge details of the investigation to the media, just as he did when chairing the old team.

Attorney General's Office spokesman RJ Soehandojo refused to comment on Assegaf's remarks, saying that the indictment would be read officially during the first hearing next week.

A panel of five judges with the Central Jakarta District Court has been appointed to hear the high-profile case. A panel usually comprises just three judges.