Munir 'deserves posthumous award'

MALANG, East Java: Constitutional Court president Jimly Asshidiqqie has called on the government to present an award posthumously to human rights campaigner Munir.

Munir had contributed greatly to the promotion of human rights and democracy in the country, Jimly said on Sunday at Munir's burial ceremony at a public cemetery in Batu, Malang.

Munir rose to fame in early 1997 when he helped procure the release of several student activists who had been abducted by a group of military soldiers for their criticism of the government.

He died on Tuesday last week on board a flight to the Netherlands, where he had been given a scholarship to pursue human rights studies at Utrecht University. -- Antara