Marsudi leads police Munir murder probe
Marsudi leads police Munir murder probe
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Police have established a team to follow up on the
recommendations of a government-sanctioned fact-finding team that
recently completed a six-month investigation into the murder of
human rights campaigner Munir.
The 30-member police team is led by Brig. Gen. Marsudi Hanafi,
who also headed the fact-finding team.
The appointment of Marsudi was signed off on by National
Police detectives chief Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko said on Tuesday
Marsudi was chosen because of his experience with the fact-
finding team.
"It will be easier for him to investigate the report and
follow up on the recommendations he himself made with the (fact-
finding) team," Soenarko said.
He said the police team would consist of 30 officers from the
National Police, Interpol and the Jakarta Police.
"In addition to detectives, we will include experts from the
forensic laboratory to help in the investigative work," Soenarko
said.
He could not say when the team would officially begin its
investigation by summoning officials from the National
Intelligence Agency (BIN) allegedly involved in the murder of
Munir last year.
Soenarko said that unlike the fact-finding team, the police
team had the power under the Criminal Law Procedures Code to
force people to appear for questioning.
Munir, who was the cofounder of human rights organizations
Kontras and Imparsial, died aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight from
Jakarta to Amsterdam on Sept. 7 last year.
An autopsy conducted by Dutch authorities found that Munir
died of arsenic poisoning.
Police investigators have named three Garuda crew members who
worked Munir's flight as suspects in the murder, including
Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who allegedly has links to BIN.
In its report to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week,
the fact-finding team identified a number of BIN officials who
allegedly played a role in Munir's poisoning.
The report, copies of which have been distributed by the
President to relevant government agencies, recommended that the
police set up a team to investigate the fact-finding team's
findings.
The report said the police team must have full access to BIN
and agency officials as part of its investigation.
During the course of its mandate, the government-sanctioned
team failed several times to question National Intelligence
Agency officials, including former BIN chief Abdullah Mahmud
Hendropriyono.
The fact-finding team concluded that Munir's death was a
conspiracy that allegedly involved top officials at Garuda and
BIN.
According to the report, some of these officials acted as
masterminds and others were the facilitators, executors and
initiators of the crime.
The team said it believed Munir was killed because of his
activities on behalf of democratization and the protection of
basic human rights.
Munir was a staunch human rights campaigner who harshly
criticized intelligence agencies and the military.
The fact-finding team also slammed BIN for its failure to
provide it with relevant documents, even after current BIN chief
Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsir Siregar vowed to support the team's work.