President told to reform BIN

JAKARTA: The President must take the necessary measures to force the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to cooperate with police investigating the murder of human rights campaigner Munir, human rights watchdog Imparsial says.

"I doubt that BIN officers will provide proper data or access to the police in the investigation into Munir's death, and I believe the police will only crash into a wall if the President fails to reform the agency or does not force it to become more cooperative," Imparsial executive director Rachland Nashiddik said on Friday.

His remark came after a recent Cabinet meeting decided to drop a plan to form a presidential commission tasked with monitoring the police's work and making sure that all those implicated in the murder case be sent to trial.

Munir died in September last year on board a Garuda aircraft flying from Jakarta to Amsterdam. According to an autopsy carried out by Dutch authorities, the staunch human rights activist died from arsenic poisoning.

The government's fact-finding team has linked several BIN officials to the murder. --JP