Munir asked for stomach medicine: Witness
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Murdered rights campaigner Munir had requested stomach medication from the Garuda crew prior to takeoff at Changi airport, and began to complain about an upset stomach about an hour after the plane took off, a witness said.
Garuda flight attendant Tia Dewi Ambari told the court on Friday that the rights activist told her about his stomach problem when she was serving meals to passengers.
"Shortly before takeoff, he (Munir) asked for some medicine. He only asked ... but he had not actually complained about a problem," Tia said in her testimony, while adding, "I told him we did not have such medicine."
Tia served passengers in the area where Munir was seated in economy class.
During the hearing, Tia said Munir refused the food on offer, citing a stomach ailment. He asked for a cup of tea instead, according to her.
Tia said she saw Munir walk to the lavatory as she was serving other passengers.
The witness claimed she did not see Munir again until she was told by her co-workers about the rights campaigner's death.
Munir died two hours before the Garuda plane landed in Amsterdam. An autopsy revealed that he died of arsenic poisoning.
Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto is standing trial on charges of premeditated murder. He is also facing secondary charges of falsifying his letter of assignment that enabled him to take the Garuda flight from Jakarta to Singapore.
A government-sanctioned fact-finding team concluded that the murder involved certain intelligence officials, but the prosecutors ignored the report.
Tia also told the court she had known the defendant Pollycarpus for 11 years. She said she did not see Pollycarpus during the flight between Jakarta and Singapore, as she spent most of that leg of the flight resting.
Another flight attendant who testified on Friday, cabin chief Najib Rajab Nasution, also told the court that he did not see Pollycarpus during the flight between Singapore and Amsterdam.
"I saw his name scratched from the list of crew members. But when I asked the official who submitted the list about it, he just said his (Pollycarpus') flight had been canceled. I don't know who made the decision or why," Najib testified.
Najib added that Munir began to complain about his illness around two hours after leaving Singapore. The flight attendant saw Munir go to the lavatory six times, at which point he located a doctor on board, Tarmizi Hakim, and asked him to examine the rights activist.
"The doctor asked us to give Munir salt water and sweet tea, but he could not drink them. The doctor then gave him some diatab (a strong oral drug used for the treatment of diabetes) and Munir appeared calm after taking the drug," Najib said.
Another witness, flight attendant Muhamad Bondan, confirmed Najib's testimony.
The trial was adjourned until next Tuesday to hear testimony of Tarmizi and three Garuda employees.