NGOs demand SBY resolve Munir case

JAKARTA: Dozens of local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, urging him to instruct the police to further investigate the murder of the country's top human rights activist Munir.

"We do appreciate the action taken by the President of Indonesia to form Fact Finding Team (TPF) to investigate the case because Munir was a prominent human rights defender and well recognized both on the national and international levels.

"We have been following the ongoing legal proceedings in Munir's case, but we've noticed that the investigation and legal proceedings have not been done with the maximum effort," said an activist at a press conference on Thursday.

Munir was poisoned to death in September 2004 on board a Garuda flight bound for Amsterdam. Senior pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who was on the first leg of the flight as a passenger, was recently sentenced to 14 years in jail. But activists believed that Pollycarpus was not the mastermind behind the murder.

The NGOs urging the president to act included the Indonesian- based Kalyanamitra, Sri Lanka-based Women and Media Collective, Thailand-based Alliance for Women's Aid Organization, the U.S.- based Women's Law and Development International, Malaysia-based Women's Aid Organization and the Philippines-based Women's Lead Foundation. -- JP