Prosecutors not linking BIN in Munir case

Prosecutors not linking BIN in Munir case

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto stood trial at the
Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday on charges of
masterminding and executing the murder of top human rights
campaigner Munir last year.

But in their indictment, prosecutors did not link the
defendant to the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), as
recommended by the government-sanctioned fact-finding team in its
report to the National Police.

The team concluded that the murder of Munir was a conspiracy
involving BIN officials, with Pollycarpus -- who so far is the
only person to be actually charged in the case -- believed to be
an intelligence agent.

If convicted, Pollycarpus could face the death penalty for
premeditating the Sept. 7, 2004 murder.

"Since 1999, the defendant has been involved in various
activities to support the Unitary State of the Republic of
Indonesia, and he considered Munir -- who identified himself as a
promoter of democracy and defender of human rights and an
outspoken critic of government programs -- to be an annoyance,
who caused problems in the implementation of programs (supporting
the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia).

"Motivated by this sentiment, the defendant decided to kill
Munir. He (the defendant) began to monitor Munir's activities and
finally found out about his plan to leave for the Netherlands on
a Garuda flight on Sept. 6, 2004 to continue his studies there,"
prosecutor Domu P. Sihite told the court.

He said Pollycarpus put poison into glasses of orange juice
with the help of two cabin crew -- Oedi Irianto and Yeti
Susmiarti -- who have also been declared suspects in the murder.

"Other glasses containing wine were not poisoned as the
defendant believed that Munir would not consume wine," Domu
added.

Munir died on board a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam
on Sept. 7 last year. A Dutch autopsy found a lethal dose of
arsenic in his body.

Prosecutors said that the poisoned orange juice served during
the flight was used to kill Munir.

Defense lawyer Mohammad Assegaf said the charges were based on
"very speculative" assumptions that Munir would not drink wine
"because he is an Indonesian Muslim".

"The indictment is very weak. The fact-finding team has said
that Pollycarpus is just 'a small instrument' in the murder, and
it is strange that the indictment makes my client seem as if only
he had the motivation to end Munir's life," Assegaf said.

However, he refused to speculate as to whether his client had
received "an order" from certain parties to carry out the murder.

Pollycarpus, 44, arrived at the court under tight security.
The courtroom was packed with dozens of human rights activists
wearing paper masks bearing the photo of Munir.

Some protesters yelled out "Murderer!" at Pollycarpus.

Former deputy chairman of the now-defunct fact finding team
Asmara Nababan expressed his disappointment upon hearing the
indictment, saying that "it did not match with the team's
findings".

"The indictment did not explain what really happened or the
contents of Pollycarpus' phone calls to a deputy BIN director,"
he said.

"We concluded that the murder was a conspiracy, and
Pollycarpus as such is 'a small element' in the case ... He is
just a scapegoat," said Asmara.