President may extend Munir probe team's term

President may extend Munir probe team's term

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The President is mulling both extending the term of the fact-
finding team tasked with helping police probe the murder of human
rights campaigner Munir and rearranging its members.

"As its (June 23) deadline is looming and the team is yet to
complete its work, then we may extend its term. We are also
considering reshuffling the team in a bid to boost members'
performance," Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi said on Monday.

He, however, added that the reshuffle would only take place if
the government-sanctioned team urged President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono to do so.

Sudi's remark was made in response to hurdles being faced by
the team in questioning several high-ranking officials of the
National Intelligence Agency (BIN), including its former chief
Gen. (ret) A.M. Hendropriyono, and in obtaining access to
documents related to Munir's murder last Sept.7.

The team has thrice summoned Hendropriyono, as well as former
BIN deputy chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi PR and BIN agent Col.
Bambang Irawan for clarification, but they all defied their
summonses.

Apparently frustrated by the uncooperativeness of BIN
officers, the team said on Monday it would go ahead with
preparing a report that would point the finger at alleged
suspects in the murder case, despite its failure to quiz
Hendropriyono and his fellow agents.

"We have tried hard to summon BIN members, but they refused to
make clarifications. However, their refusal won't affect us in
making recommendations to the National Police as to who was
responsible for the murder," team secretary-general Usman Hamid
said.

"Learning from documents, information and communication
records (involving BIN officers), we have come to the conclusion
that the murder of Munir was a conspiracy,

"What we (the team) have is all the facts gathered from the
field, while the police are responsible for collecting evidence,"
he said.

Also on Monday, the team was to have questioned Bambang Irawan
at its office on Jl. Latuharhary, Central Jakarta, but the BIN
agent did not show up.

Bambang reportedly claimed he missed a flight to Jakarta on
Monday morning from an undisclosed region, where he was allegedly
on a business assignment.

The team has evidence to suggest that Bambang, a retired Army
medical staff officer, was aboard the same flight as Munir when
the activist was found dead due to arsenic poisoning during his
trip from Jakarta to Amsterdam.

Bambang allegedly made a stop-over in Singapore, and a witness
has said that "he is the unidentified person among the 15
passengers who sat in business class" along with Munir.

A suspect in the murder case, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto,
once admitted to police investigators that he first met Bambang
during a training program sponsored by the Indonesian Target
Shooting Association (Perbakin).

Pollycarpus, who claimed to be co-pilot of the Garuda flight
from Jakarta to Singapore on Sept. 7, is now in police detention.
The other two suspects, Oedi Irianto and Yeti Susmiyarti, both
Garuda cabin crew, have not been detained yet.

Pollycarpus has been accused of being an accomplice to
premeditated murder and document forgery and could face a maximum
penalty of 20 years if proven guilty, according to National
Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko.

"Prosecutors have declared that Pollycarpus' case file is
complete," Soenarko said, adding that the suspect's trial could
begin in the near future.