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.