Prosecutors defend charges against Polly

Prosecutors defend charges against Polly

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Prosecutors insisted here on Tuesday that they had solid evidence
against Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who stands
charged of murdering noted human rights campaigner Munir last
year.

"The defendant arranged several things before he killed Munir
-- starting from falsifying documents to enable him to be on the
same flight as Munir," prosecutor Edy Saputra told the Central
Jakarta District Court.

He argued that Pollycarpus had initially been assigned to fly
to Bangkok from Sept. 5, 2004 through Sept. 9, 2004, but he
produced falsified documents so as to be able to be on the same
flight as Munir to the Netherlands on Sept. 6, 2004.

"The defendant also contacted Munir by cellular phone several
times to make sure that the latter would not cancel his trip to
the Netherlands," Edy added.

He said that in bid to minimize the risks, the defendant
persuaded Munir to exchange seats with him, moving from economy
to business class during the Jakarta-Singapore leg of the flight.

Munir, who cofounded two human rights watchdogs -- Kontras and
Imparsial, was found dead on board the plane two hours before
landing in Amsterdam. A Dutch autopsy found a lethal amount of
arsenic in his body.

In the previous hearing, Pollycarpus read out his defense plea
and claimed he was innocent. The prosecutors had requested the
court sentence him to life in prison.

The government's fact-finding team, set up by President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono to assist police in investigating the case,
concluded that Pollycarpus was an agent of the State Intelligence
Agency (BIN) while serving as a pilot.

The team also believed that the murder was a conspiracy in
which several BIN agents were involved.

During Monday's hearing, Pollycarpus claimed he was a victim
of conspiracy. He did not elaborate.

The court adjourned the trial until Wednesday to hear the
defendant's response. Presiding judge Cicut Sutiarso said the
court would issue a verdict on Friday.